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SEYMOUR    DURST 


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When  you  leave,  pkase  leave  this  hook 

Because  it  has  heen  said 
"Ever'thing  comes  t'  him  who  waits 

Ey(cept  a  loaned  hook." 


Avery  Architectural  and  Fine  Arts  Library 
Gift  of  Seymour  B.  Dlrst  Old  York  Library 


The  Story  of  Manhattan 


The 
Story  of  Manhattan 

By  Charles  Hemstreet 


New  York 
Charles  Scribners  Sons 

1923 


>-( 


o 


frsvt^: 


r 


Copyright,  1901,  by 
CHARLES  SCRIBNER'S  SONS 


Printed  in  the  United  States  of  America 


Published  October,  1901 


Preface 


HERE  the  history  of  New  Tork  City  is 
told  as  a  story,  in  few  words.  The 
effort  has  been  to  make  it  accurate  and 
interesting.  The  illustrations  are  largely  from 
old  prints  and  wood  engravings.  Few  dates  are 
used.  Instead,  a  Table  of  Events  has  been  added 
which  can  readily  be  referred  to.  The  Index 
to  Chapters  also  gives  the  years  in  which  the 
story  of  each  chapter  occurs. 


39:vi.i 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 
-in  2013 


http://archive.org/details/storyofmanhattanOOhems_0 


Index  to  Chapters 


c 


Page 

H AFTER  I.     The  Adventures  of  Henry 
Hudson.      From  1609  to  161 2      .     .     .        i 


CHAPTER    II.     The   First  Traders   on   the 

Island.      From  161 2  to  1625    ....      10 

CHAPTER  III.     Peter  Minuit,  First  of  the 

Dutch  Governors.      From  1626  to  1633      18 

CHAPTER  IV.  Walter  Van  TwiJler,  Sec- 
ond of  the  Dutch  Governors.  From 
1633  to  1637 25 

CHAPTER  V.     William  Kieft  and  the  War 

with  the  Indians.      From  1637  to  1647  •     32 

CHAPTER  VI.  Peter  Stuyvesant,  the  Last 
of  the  Dutch  Governors.  From  1647 
to  1664 44 

CHAPTER  VII.  New  York  Under  the 
English  and  the  Dutch.  From  1664  to 
1674  .     .     .     o     .      . 55 

CHAPTER    VIII.       Something    About  ,  the 

Bolting  Act.     From  1674  to  1688   .     .     61 

vii 


Index  to  Chapters 

Page 

CHAPTER    IX.      The    Stirring  Times   of 

Jacob  Leisler.     From  1688  to  169 1     .       ^G 

CHAPTER    X.     The    Sad    End    of   Jacob 

Leisler.     The  Year  1691 71 

CHAPTER    XI.      Governor    Fletcher    and 

the  Privateers.      From  1692  to  1696    .        77 

CHAPTER  XII.  Containing  the  True 
Life  of  Captain  Kidd.  From  1696  to 
1702 82 

CHAPTER  XIII.  Lord  Cornbury  makes 
Himself  very  Unpopular.  From  1702 
to  1708 91 

CHAPTER     XIV.        Lord     Lovelace    and 

Robert  Hunter.     From  1708  to  1720       95 

CHAPTER  XV.     Governor  Burnet  and  the 

French  Traders.     From  1720  to  1732      101 

CHAPTER   XVL     The    Trial    of   Zenger, 

the  Printer.     From  1732  to  1736    .     .      106 

CHAPTER  XVII.     Concerning  the  Negro 

Plot.     From   1736  to  1743    .     .     .     .     iii 

viii 


Index  to  Chapters 


Page 

CHAPTER  XVIII.  The  Tragic  Death  of 
Sir  Danvers  Osborne.  From  1743  to 
1753 116 

CHAPTER  XIX.  The  Beginning  of  Dis- 
content.     From   1753   to   1763   .     .     .      121 

CHAPTER  XX.     The  Story  of  the  Stamp 

Act.      From  1763  to  1765      .     .     .     .      127 

CHAPTER     XXI.       The     Beginning     of 

Revolution.      From  1765  to  1770   .     .      133 

CHAPTER    XXII.     Fighting  the  Tax   on 

Tea.      From   1770  to    1774  ....      137 

CHAPTER   XXIII.     The  Sons  of  Liberty 

at  Turtle   Bay.      From  1774  to  1775   .      143 

CHAPTER    XXIV.       The    War    of    the 

Revolution.     In  the  Year  1775  .     .     .      147 

CHAPTER     XXV.      A    Battle    on    Long 

Island.     The  Year  1776 151 

CHAPTER  XXVI.  The  British  Occupy 
New  York.  The  Year  1776  {Con- 
tinued)   156 

ix 


Index  to  Chapters 

Page 

CHAPTER  XXVII.  The  Battle  of  Har- 
lem Heights.  The  Year  1776  {Con- 
tinued^   164 

CHAPTER  XXVIII.  The  British  Fail 
to  Sweep  Everything  Before  Them. 
From  1776  to  1777 167 

CHAPTER    XXIX.      New  York  a  Prison 

House.      From  1777  to  1783      .     .      .      173 

CHAPTER  XXX.     After  the  War.      From 

1783   to   1788 179 

CHAPTER   XXXI.     The    First    President 

of  the  United  States.     The  Year  1788      186 

CHAPTER    XXXII.       The    Welcome    to 

George  Washington.     The  Year   1789      190 

CHAPTER  XXXIII.  Concerning  the 
Tammany  Society  and  Burr's  Bank. 
From   1789  to  1800 197 

CHAPTER  XXXIV.  More  about  Hamil- 
ton and  Burr.      From  1801  to  1804     .      204 

CHAPTER  XXXV.     Robert  Fulton  Builds 

a  Steam-Boat.      From  1805  to  1807     .      208 

X 


Index  to  Chapters 

Page 

CHAPTER     XXXVI.      The     City     Plan. 

From  1807  to   1 8 14 212 

CHAPTER   XXXVII.     The  Story  of  the 

Erie  Canal.      From   1814  to  1825   .     .      216 

CHAPTER  XXXVIII.  The  Building  of 
the  Croton  Aqueduct.  From  1825  to 
1845 223 

CHAPTER  XXXIX.     Professor  Morse  and 

the  Telegraph.      From  1845  ^^  ^^7^   •      ^3^ 

CHAPTER   XL.     The  Greater  New  York. 

To  the  Present  Time 235 

TABLE  OF  EVENTS 237 

INDEX 243 


XI 


List  of  Illustrations 

Page 

New    Amsterdam,    1650  —  New    York,    East 

Side,   1746 I 

The    Half   Moon   in    the    Highlands    of  the 

Hudson 5 

Earliest  Picture  of  Manhattan 9 

Indians  Trading  for   Furs 11 

Hall  of  the  States-General  of  Holland     .     .  15 

Seal  of  New   Netherland 17 

The   Building  of  the   Palisades 20 

Old   House  in   New  York,   Built   1668      .     .  24 

Van  Twiller's   Defiance 27 

Landing  of  Dutch  Colony  on   Staten   Island.  29 

Governor's  Island  and  the   Battery  in  1850  .  30 

Dutch  Costumes *     ...  32 

The   Bowling  Green  in    1840 35 

Selling  Arms  to  the   Indians  .     .     ^     .     .     •  38 

Smoking  the   Pipe  of  Peace 43 

xiii 


List  of  Illustrations 


Page 

The  Old  Stadt  Huys  of  New  Amsterdam  .  47 

Stuyvesant  leaving  Fort  Amsterdam  ...  51 

Petrus  Stuyvesant's  Tombstone      ....  54 

Departure  of  Nicolls 56 

The  Dutch  Ultimatum 59 

Seal  of  New  York G';}^ 

New  York  in  1700 ■  .     .  70 

Sloughter  Signing  Leisler's   Death-warrant   .  73 

Bradford's  Tombstone .  78 

The  Reading  of  Fletcher's  Commission.     .  81 

Arrest  of  Captain   Kidd 85 

New  City   Hall  in  Wall  Street 88 

Fort  George  in   1740 90 

View  in   Broad  Street  about  1740.     ...  94 

The  Slave-Market 98 

Fraunces's  Tavern 100 

Dinner  at  Rip  Van   Dam's 107 

The  Negroes  Sentenced 113 

xiv 


List  of  Illustrations 

Page 

Trinity  Church,   1760 124 

Coffee-House  opposite  BowHng  Green,  Head- 
Quarters  of  the  Sons  of  Liberty    .     .     129 

Ferry-House  on  East  River,  1746     .     .     .  140 

East  River  Shore,  1750 145 

Mrs.   Murray's  Dinner  to  British  Officers  .  159 

Howe's  Head-Quarters,  Beekman  House     .  162 

Map  of  Manhattan  Island  in  1776      .     .     .  165 

View  from  the  BowHng  Green  in  the  Revo- 
lution     169 

Old    Sugar-House    in    Liberty    Street,    the 

Prison-House  of  the   Revolution    .     .      174 

North  Side  of  Wall  Street  East  of  William 

Street 181 

Celebration  of  the  Adoption  of  the  Consti- 
tution       188 

View    of   Federal    Hall    and  Part  of  Broad 

Street,   1796 191 

The  John  Street  Theatre,   1781     .     .     .     .     194 

XV 


List  of  Illustrations 

Page 

Reservoir    of    Manhattan    Water-Works    in 

Chambers  Street 202 

The  Collect  Pond 204 

The    Grange,   KIngsbridge    Road,  the   Resi- 
dence of  Alexander  Hamilton   .     .     .  206 

The  Clermont,  Fulton's  First  Steam-Boat  .  210 

Castle  Garden 214 

Landing  of  Lafayette  at  Castle  Garden  .     .  217 

View  of  Park  Row,   1825 225 

High  Bridge,   Croton  Aqueduct     .     .     .     .  228 

Crystal  Palace 232 


XVI 


CHAPTER    I 


The  Adventures  of 
Henry  Hudson 


^^S^I^S^HE  long  and  narrow   Island  of 
f^  o      o      o   ^^  Manhattan  was  a  wild  and  beau- 

In 


T 


°JS\0  v^Co  v^Co  v5fV>  ^)%\^ 


tiful  SDOt  in  the  year  1609. 
this  year  a  little  ship  sailed  up 
the  bay  below  the  island,  took 
the  river  to  the  west,  and  went 
on.  In  these  days  there  were  no  tall  houses  with 
white  walls  glistening  in  the  sunlight,  no  church- 
spires,  no  noisy  hum  of  running  trains,  no  smoke 
to  blot  out  the  blue  sky.  None  of  these  things. 
But  in  their  place  were  beautiful  trees  with  spread- 
ing branches,  stretches  of  sand-hills,  and  green 
patches  of  grass.  In  the  branches  of  the  trees 
there  were  birds  of  varied  colors,  and  wandering 
through  the  tangled  undergrowth  were  many  wild 
animals.  The  people  of  the  island  were  men  and 
women   whose    skins    were  quite    red  \  strong  and 

CO 


The   Story  of  Manhattan 


healthy  people  who  clothed  themselves  in  the  furs  of 
animals  and  made  their  houses  of  the  trees  and  vines. 

In  this  year  of  1609,  these  people  gathered  on 
the  shore  of  their  island  and  looked  with  wonder 
at  the  boat,  so  different  from  any  they  had  ever 
seen,  as  it  was  swept  before  the  wind  up  the  river. 

The  ship  was  called  the  Half  Moon,  and  it  had 
come  all  the  way  from  Amsterdam,  in  the  Dutch 
Netherlands.  The  Netherlands  was  quite  a  small 
country  in  the  northern  part  of  Europe,  not  nearly 
as  large  as  the  State  of  New  York,  and  was  usu- 
ally called  Holland,  as  Holland  was  the  most  im- 
portant of  its  several  states.  But  the  Dutch  owned 
other  lands  than  these.  They  had  islands  in  the 
Indian  Ocean  that  were  rich  in  spices  of  every 
sort,  and  the  other  European  countries  needed 
these  spices.  These  islands,  being  quite  close  to 
India,  were  called  the  East  Indies,  and  the  com- 
pany of  Dutch  merchants  who  did  most  of  the 
business  with  them  was  called  the  East  India  Com- 
pany. They  had  many  ships,  and  the  Half  Moon 
was  one  of  them. 


The  Adventures  of  Henry   Hudson 


It  was  a  long  way  to  the  East  India  Islands  from 
Holland,  for  in  these  days  there  was  no  Suez 
Canal  to  separate  Asia  and  Africa,  and  the  ships 
had  to  go  around  Africa  by  way  of  the  Cape  of 
Good  Hope.  Besides  being  a  long  distance,  it  was 
a  dangerous  passage  ;  for  although  from  its  name 
one  might  take  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope  to  be  a  very 
pleasant  place,  the  winds  blew  there  with  great  force, 
and  the  waves  rolled  so  high  that  they  often  dashed 
the  fragile  ships  to  pieces. 

So  the  merchants  of  Holland,  and  of  other  coun- 
tries for  that  matter,  were  always  thinking  of  a 
shorter  course  to  the  East  Indies.  They  knew 
very  little  of  North  or  South  America,  and  be- 
lieved that  these  countries  were  simply  islands  and 
that  it  was  quite  possible  that  a  passage  lay  through 
them  which  would  make  a  much  nearer  and  a  much 
safer  way  to  the  East  Indies  than  around  the  dread 
Cape  of  Good  Hope.  So  the  East  India  Company 
built  the  ship  Half  Moon  and  got  an  Englishman 
named  Henry  Hudson  to  take  charge  of  it,  and 
started  him  off  to  find  the  short  way.     Hudson  was 

[3] 


The  Story  aj  Manhattan 


chosen  because  he  had  already  made  two  voyages 
for  an  English  company,  trying  to  find  that  same 
short  passage,  and  was  supposed  to  know  ever  so 
much  more  about  it  than  anyone  else. 

When  the  Half  Moon  sailed  up  the  river,  Hudson 
was  sure  that  he  had  found  the  passage  to  the  Indies, 
and  he  paid  very  little  attention  to  the  red-skinned 
Indians  on  the  island  shore.  But  when  the  ship  got 
as  far  as  where  Albany  is  now,  the  water  had  be- 
come shallow,  and  the  river-banks  were  so  near  to- 
gether that  Hudson  gave  up  in  despair,  and  said 
that,  after  all,  he  had  not  found  the  eagerly  sought- 
for  passage  to  India,  but  only  a  river! 

Then  he  turned  the  ship,  sailed  back  past  the  isl- 
and, and  returned  to  Holland  to  tell  of  his  discovery. 
He  told  of  the  fur-bearing  animals,  and  of  what  a 
vast  fortune  could  be  made  if  their  skins  could  only 
be  got  to  Holland,  where  furs  were  needed.  He 
told  of  the  Indians;  and  the  river  which  flowed 
past  the  island  he  spoke  of  as  "  The  River  of 
the  Mountains." 

The  directors  of  the  Dutch  East  India  Company 

[4] 


"5 


^ 

^ 

•^ 

8 


The  Adventures  of  Henry   Hudson 


were  not  particularly  pleased  with  Hudson's  report. 
They  were  angry  because  the  short  cut  to  India  had 
not  been  found,  and  they  thought  very  little  of  the 
vast  storehouse  of  furs  which  he  had  discovered. 
Neither  did  the  Company  care  a  great  deal  about 
Hudson,  for  they  soon  fell  out  with  him,  and  he 
went  back  to  the  English  company  and  made  another 
voyage  for  them,  still  in  search  of  the  short  passage 
to  India.  But  in  this  last  voyage,  he  only  succeeded 
in  finding  a  great  stretch  of  water  far  to  the  north, 
that  can  be  seen  on  any  map  as  Hudson's  Bay. 
His  crew  after  a  time  grew  angry  when  he  wanted  to 
continue  his  search.  There  was  a  mutiny  on  the 
ship,  and  Hudson  and  his  son  and  seven  of  the  sail- 
ors who  were  his  friends  were  put  into  a  small  boat, 
set  adrift  in  the  bay  to  which  he  had  given  his  name, 
and  no  trace  of  them  was  ever  seen  again.  Long, 
long  years  after  that  time,  another  explorer  found 
the  passage  that  Hudson  had  lost  his  life  searching 
for.  It  is  The  Northwest  Passage,  far  up  toward  the 
North  Pole,  in  the  region  of  perpetual  cold  and 
night.     So  Hudson  never  knew  that  the  passage  he 

[7] 


The  Story  of  Manhattan 


had  looked  for  was  of  no  value,  and  we  may  be  sure 
he  had  never  imagined  that  there  would  ever  be  a 
great  city  on  the  island  he  had  discovered. 

The  Dutch  came  to  think  a  great  deal  of  Hudson 
after  he  was  dead.  The  stream  which  he  had  called 
"  The  River  of  the  Mountains  "  they  named  Hud- 
son's River.  They  even  made  believe  that  Hudson 
was  a  Dutchman — although  you  will  remember  he 
was  an  Englishman — and  were  in  the  habit  of  speak- 
ing of  him  as  "  Hendrick  "  Hudson. 

The  Indians  were  scattered  over  America  in  great 
numbers.  The  tribe  on  the  island  were  called  Man- 
hattans, and  from  that  tribe  came  the  name  of  the 
Island  of  Manhattan.  All  the  Indians,  no  matter 
which  tribe  they  belonged  to,  looked  very  much 
alike  and  acted  very  much  the  same.  Their  eyes 
were  dark,  and  their  hair  long,  straight,  and  black. 
When  they  were  fighting,  they  daubed  their  skins 
with  colored  muds — war-paint  the  white  men  called 
it — and  started  out  on  the  "  war-path."  They  loved 
to  hunt  and  fish,  as  well  as  to  fight,  and  they  fought 
and  murdered   as  cruelly  and  with  as  little  thought 

[81 


The  Adventures  of  Henry  Hudson 


as  they  hunted  the  wild  animals  or  hooked  the  fish. 
They  held  talks  which  were  called  "  councils,"  and 
one  Indian  would  speak  for  hours,  while  the  others 
listened  in  silence.  And  when  they  determined  upon 
any  action,  they  carried  it  out,  without  a  thought  of 
how  many  people  were  to  be  killed,  or  whether  they 
were  to  be  killed  themselves. 


Earliest   Picture  of  Manhattan, 


[9] 


CHAPTER    II 


The    First    Traders 
on  the  Island 


FOR  several  years  after  the  return  of  Hudson, 
Dutch  merchants  sent  their  ships  to  the 
Island  of  Manhattan,  and  each  ship  returned 
to  Holland  laden  with  costly  furs  which  the  Indians 
had  traded  for  glass  beads  and  strips  of  gay  cloth. 
The  Indians  cared  a  great  deal  more  for  glittering 
glass  and  highly  colored  rags  than  they  did  for  furs. 

One  trader  above  all  others  whose  name  should 
be  remembered,  was  Adrian  Block.  He  came  in 
a  ship  called  the  Tiger.  This  ship  was  anchored 
in  the  bay  close  by  what  is  now  called  the  Battery, 
and  directly  in  the  course  that  the  ferry-boats  take 
when  they  go  to  Staten  Island. 

On  a  cold  night  in  November  it  took  fire  and 
was  burned  to  the  water*s  edge.  Block  and  those 
who  were  with  him  would  all  have  been  burned  to 
death   had   they  not   been   strong  and   hardy  men 

[lO] 


The   First  Traders  on  the  Island 


who  were  able  to  swim  ashore  in  the  ice-cold  water. 
Even  when  they  reached  the  shore  they  were  not 
safe,  for  there  were  no  houses  or  places  of  shelter; 


Indians    Trading  for   Furs. 

the  winter  was  coming  on,  and  the  woods  were  filled 
with  wild  beasts.  But  Block  and  his  men  very 
soon  built  houses  for  themselves ;  rude  and  clumsy 
buildings    to   look    at,  but   warm    and   comfortable 


The  Story  of  Manhattan 


within.  They  were  the  first  houses  of  white  men 
on  the  Island  of  Manhattan.  If  you  wish  to  see 
where  they  stood,  take  a  walk  down  Broadway,  and 
just  before  you  reach  the  Bowling  Green,  on  a 
house  which  is  numbered  41,  you  will  find  a  tablet 
of  brass  which  tells  that  Block's  houses  stood  on 
that  self-same  spot. 

As  soon  as  the  hard  winter  was  over,  Block  and 
his  men  began  to  build  a  new  ship,  and  before 
another  winter  had  come  they  had  one  larger  than 
the  Tiger.  It  was  the  first  vessel  to  be  built  in 
the  new  world,  and  was  called  the  Restless. 

That  same  year  the  Dutch  merchants  decided 
that  they  were  giving  too  many  glass  beads  for  the 
furs,  and  that  if  all  the  merchants  combined  into 
one  company  they  might  not  have  to  give  so  many. 
So  they  did  combine,  and  called  themselves  the 
United  New  Netherland  Company.  It  was  in  this 
way  that  the  name  New  Netherland  first  appeared. 

When  the  first  ships  of  the  new  company  reached 
the  island,  a  house  was  built  for  the  use  of  the  fur- 
traders,  just   south    of  where    the    Bowling  Green 

[12] 


The  First  Traders  on  the  Island 


Park  is.  This  structure  was  called  Fort  Manhat- 
tan. It  was  of  wood,  and  did  not  take  long  to 
build  because  the  traders  did  not  intend  to  live  in  it 
a  great  while.  They  felt  quite  sure  that  all  the  furs 
would  be  collected  in  a  few  years,  and  that  then  the 
island  would  be  abandoned.  No  one  thought  at 
that  time  that  the  little  wooden  stockade  was  the 
commencement  of  a  great  city. 

But  after  a  few  years  it  was  found  that  the  new 
country  was  a  much  richer  place  than  had  been  sup- 
posed. Shipload  after  shipload  of  otter  and  beaver 
skins  were  sent  across  the  ocean  and  still  there  were 
otters  and  beavers  without  number.  The  fur- 
traders  were  growing  rich,  and  after  a  few  years 
there  came  a  decided  change,  when  a  new  company 
was  formed  in  Holland ;  a  great  body  of  men  this 
time,  who  had  a  vast  amount  of  money  to  build 
ships  and  fit  them  out.  This  organization  was  the 
West  India  Company,  and  was  to  battle  with  Spain 
by  land  and  by  sea  (for  the  Netherlands  was  at  war 
with  Spain)  and  was  to  carry  on  trade  with  the 
West  Indies,  just  as  the  East  India  Comoany  car- 

[13] 


The   Story  of  Manhattan 


ried  on  trade  with  the  East  Indies.  As  the  West 
Indies  included  every  country  that  could  be  reached 
by  sailing  west  from  Holland,  you  will  see  that  all 
the  Dutch  land  in  America,  which  land  was  called 
New  Netherland,  came  under  the  control  of  this 
new  company. 

The  territory  called  New  Netherland  was  the 
country  along  the  Atlantic  Ocean  which  now  makes 
up  the  States  of  New  Jersey,  New  York,  and  Con- 
necticut. But  its  limits  at  this  time  were  uncertain 
as  it  extended  inland  as  far  as  the  Company  might 
care  to  send  their  colonists. 

Within  a  few  years,  the  seventy  ships  sailing 
under  the  flag  of  the  West  India  Company,  fought 
great  battles  with  the  Spaniards,  and  won  almost 
every  one  of  them.  There  were  branches  of  the 
Company  in  seven  cities  of  Holland,  and  the  branch 
in  Amsterdam  had  charge  of  New  Netherland.  So 
it  will  be  only  of  the  doings  of  this  branch  that  we 
shall  read.  Colonists  were  to  be  carried  to  New 
Netherland  from  Holland  ;  farms  were  to  be  laid 
out  and   cultivated  ;  cities  were  to  be  built,  and  the 

[•4] 


The   First  Traders  on  the  Island 


West  India  Company  was  to  have  absolute  control 
over  all,  and  was  to  rule  all  the  people.  To  do 
these   things    they    had  authority  from   the  States- 


Hall  of  the  States-General  of  Holland. 

General  of  Holland,  which  was  the  name  given  to 
the  men  who  made  the  laws  for  that  country.  The 
Company  was  to  make  regular  reports  to  the  States- 

[15] 


The  Story  of  Manhattan 


General,  and  tell  of  the  growth  of  the  colony  and 
the  progress  of  the  people  In  It.  But  as  the  years 
went  on  the  Company  was  not  as  particular  as  It 
should  have  been  about  what  It  told  the  States- 
General. 

It  was  not  until  the  West  India  Company  took 
charge  of  New  Netherland  that  It  was  decided  to 
make  the  settlement  on  the  Island  of  Manhattan  a 
city.  Up  to  this  time  It  had  been  merely  a  trading 
station.  In  order  to  build  up  a  city,  the  Company 
knew  that  it  would  be  necessary  to  send  people  In 
sufficient  numbers  so  that  no  matter  how  many 
were  killed  by  the  Indians  the  settlement  would  not 
be  wiped  out.  Many  Inducements  were  offered, 
and  men  with  their  families  soon  began  to  flock  to 
New  Netherland.  With  the  ship  that  brought  the 
first  families  was  Cornelius  Jacobsen  May,  who  was 
to  live  on  the  Island  of  Manhattan  and  look  after 
affairs  for  the  Company.  Rude  houses  were  set  up 
about  the  fort,  and  the  first  street  came  Into  exist- 
ence.    This  Is  now  called  Pearl  Street. 

Cornelius  Jacobsen  May  cared  for  th^  colony  for 
[,6] 


The  First  Traders  o^  the  Island 


less  than  a  year,  when  his  place  was  taken  by  Will- 
iam Verhulst.  Before  the  year  was  out,  Verhulst 
decided  that  the  new  country  never  would  suit  him, 
and  he  sailed  away  to  Holland.  Then  came  in  his 
place,  in  the  year  1626,  Peter  Minuit,  under  ap- 
pointment as  the  first  Dutch  Governor  of  New 
Netherland. 


Seal  of  New    'Netherland. 


['7] 


CHAPTER    III 


Peter  Minuit,  First 
of  the  Dutch  Governors 


PETER  MlNUITwas  a  large  man,  of  middle 
age,  whose    hair    was    turning    gray,  whose 
eyes  were  black  and   dull,  and  whose  man- 
ners were  quite  coarse. 

The  West  India  Company  gave  to  this  Governor 
absolute  power  over  all  the  Dutch  lands  in  America. 
His  power  was  equal  to  that  of  a  king;  much  more 
than  some  kings  have  had.  To  be  sure,  in  matters 
of  extreme  importance  he  was  supposed  to  refer  to 
the  Company  in  Holland.  But  Holland  was  far 
away,  farther  away  than  it  is  in  these  days  of  fast 
steamers  and  the  telegraph,  and  the  Company  had 
too  many  other  matters  to  look  after  to  give  much 
thought  to  New  Netherland. 

One  of  the  first  acts  of  Governor  Minuit  was  to 
buy  the  Island  of  Manhattan  from  the  Indians, 
giving  them   in   exchange  some   beads,  some   brass 

[1 8] 


Peter  Minuit 


ornaments,  some  bits  of  glass  and  some  strips  of 
colored  cloth ;  all  of  which  seemed  a  rich  treasure 
to  the  Indians,  but  were  in  reality  worth  just 
twenty-four  dollars. 

As  soon  as  Minuit  had  bought  the  island,  he 
organized  a  government.  In  authority  next  to  the 
Go  ^ernor  was  the  koopman,  who  was  secretary  of 
the  province,  and  bookkeeper  at  the  Company's 
warehouse,  and  who  worked  very  hard.  Then 
came  the  schout-fiscal,  who  worked  still  harder,  be- 
ing half  sheriff,  half  attorney-general,  and  all  cus- 
toms officer.  There  was  also  a  council  of  five  men 
who  looked  wise  but  had  very  little  to  say  and  did 
not  dare  to  disagree  with  the  Governor. 

Although  in  buying  their  land  Governor  Minuit 
had  made  the  Indians  his  friends,  he  took  care  to 
be  prepared  in  case  they  should  change  their  minds 
and  become  warlike.  He  had  Kryn  Frederick,  the 
Company's  engineer,  build  a  solid  fort  on  the  spot 
where  the  fur-traders'  stockade  had  stood.  This 
he  called  Fort  Amsterdam.  It  was  surrounded  by 
cedar  palisades,  and  was  large  enough  to  shelter  all 

[19] 


The  Story  of  Manhattan 

the  people  of  the  little  colony  in  case  of  danger. 
Inside  this  fort  there  was  a  house  for  the  Governor, 
and  outside  the  walls  was  a  warehouse  for  furs,  and 


rhe  Building  of  the  Palisades, 


Peter   Minuit 


a  mill  which  was  run  by  horse-power,  with  a  large 
room  on  the  second  floor  to  be  used  as  a  church. 

When  Minuit  had  become  fairly  settled  in  his 
new  colony,  he  divided  the  lower  part  of  the  island 
into  farms,  which  in  those  days  were  called  "  bou- 
weries."  A  road  which  led  through  these  farms 
was  named  Bouwerie  Lane,  and  the  same  road  is  to- 
day known  as  The  Bowery. 

Minuit  had  been  Governor  four  years,  and  there 
were  200  persons  on  the  island,  when  the  Dutch 
West  India  Company,  deciding  that  the  colony 
was  not  increasing  fast  enough,  made  a  plan  for 
giving  large  tracts  of  land  to  any  man  who  would 
go  from  Holland  and  take  with  him  fifty  persons 
to  make  their  homes  in  New  Netherland.  The 
grants  of  land,  which  were  really  large  farms, 
stretched  away  in  all  directions  over  the  territory  of 
New  Netherland.  But  no  grant  was  made  on  the 
Island  of  Manhattan,  as  the  Company  reserved  that 
for  itself.  Each  of  these  farms  was  called  a  manor. 
The  man  who  brought  colonists  from  Holland  was 
called  a  patroon.     He  was  the   Lord  of  the  Manor. 

[21] 


The  Story  of  Manhattan 


He  had  supreme  authority  over  his  colonists,  who 
cleared  the  land  of  the  trees,  planted  seeds,  gath- 
ered the  ripened  grain,  and  raised  cattle  which  they 
gave  to  the  Lord  of  the  Manor  as  rent. 

The  little  town  of  New  Amsterdam  was  to  con- 
tinue as  the  seat  of  government,  and  the  Lords  of 
the  Manors  were  to  act  under  the  direction  of  the 
Governor.  The  farms  established  by  these  patroons 
were  to  belong  to  them  and  to  their  families  after 
them. 

The  one  thing  that  the  patroons  were  not  per- 
mitted to  do  was  to  collect  the  furs  of  animals,  for 
these  were  very  valuable  and  the  Company  claimed 
them  all. 

Before  many  years  had  passed  there  was  much 
trouble  with  these  patroons,  who  did  a  great  deal 
to  make  themselves  rich,  and  very  little  for  New 
Netherland.  They  traded  in  furs,  notwithstanding 
they  were  forbidden  to  do  so,  and  did  all  manner 
of  things  they  should  not  have  done. 

Governor  Minuit  was  himself  accused  of  aiding 
the  patroons  to  make  money  at  the  expense  of  the 


Peter   Minuit 


West  India  Company,  and  of  taking  his  share  of 
the  profit ;  and  finally,  the  Company  ordered  him  to 
return  to  Holland.  The  ship  in  which  he  sailed 
was  wrecked  on  the  coast  of  England,  and  Minuit 
was  detained  and  accused  of  unlawfully  trading 
in  the  territory  of  the  King  of  England.  This  was 
not  the  first  time  that  the  English  had  laid  claim 
to  the  Dutch  lands  in  America.  Charles  I.  was 
king  then,  and  he  said  that  England  owned  New 
Netherland  because  an  English  king,  more  than 
a  hundred  years  before  Hudson's  time,  had  sent 
John  Cabot  and  his  son  Sebastian  in  search  of 
new  lands,  and  they  had  touched  the  American 
shore. 

But  the  Dutch  called  attention  to  the  fact  that  it 
had  been  held,  time  out  of  mind,  that  to  own  a 
country  one  must  not  only  discover  it,  but  must 
visit  it  continually,  and  even  buy  it  from  any  persons 
who  should  be  settled  there.  Even  if  the  Cabots 
had  discovered  the  land  in  America,  the  Dutch  had 
occupied  it  ever  since  Hudson's  time  and  had  paid 
th»  Indians  for  it. 

[23] 


The  Story  of  Manhattan 


Matters  were  patched  up  for  the  time,  and 
Minuit  was  permitted  to  return  to  Holland.  But 
he  was  no  longer  Governor  of  New  Netherland,  for 
his  place  had  been  given  to  another  man  whose 
name  was  Walter  Van  Twiller. 


Old  House  in   New    York,   Built  1668. 


[24] 


CHAPTER    IV 


Walter  Van  Twiller, 

Second  of  the  Dutch 

Governors 


NOW  this  Walter  Van  Twiller  was  a  relative 
of  Kiliaen  Van  Rensselaer,  one  of  the 
patroons.  You  will  see  why  the  West 
India  Company's  choice  of  him  for  a  Governor  was 
not  by  any  means  a  wise  choice.  For  he  was  soon 
doing  exactly  what  Minuit  had  done.  The  only 
difference  was  that  Governor  Van  Twiller  favored 
Van  Rensselaer  more  than  he  did  the  other  patroons. 

Van  Twiller  was  a  stout,  round-bodied  man, 
with  a  face  much  the  shape  of  a  full  moon.  He 
was  a  sharp  trader,  having  made  two  voyages  to  the 
Hudson  River  in  the  interest  of  Van  Rensselaer, 
but  he  knew  nothing  of  governing  a  colony. 

The  ship  that  brought  the  new  Governor  to  the 
Island  of  Manhattan,  had  also  on  board  a  hundred 

[25] 


The   Story  of  Manhattan 


soldiers,  and  these  were  the  first  soldiers  ever  sent 
to  the  island.  There  was  also  on  the  ship  Ever- 
ardus  Bogardus,  the  first  minister  of  the  colony,  as 
well  as  Adam  Rolandsen,  the  first  school-master. 
This  school-master  had  a  hard  time  of  it  in  the  new 
country,  for  not  being  able  to  make  a  living  by  his 
teaching,  he  was  forced  to  do  all  kinds  of  other 
work.      He  even  took  in  washing  for  a  time ! 

By  this  time  negro  slaves  were  being  brought  to 
the  colony  from  Africa.  They  did  the  household 
work,  while  the  colonists  cultivated  the  fields 
These  slaves  did  most  of  the  work  on  a  new 
wooden  church  which  was  set  up  just  outside  the 
fort,  for  the  new  minister. 

Governor  Van  Twiller  began  improving  the  col- 
ony by  having  three  windmills  built,  to  take  the  place, 
of  the  horse-mill.  But  he  had  them  placed  in  such  a 
position  that  the  building  in  the  fort  cut  off  the  wind 
from  their  sails,  and  the  mills  were  almost  useless. 

The  Governor  did  not  neglect  his  own  comfort, 
for  within  Fort  Amsterdam  he  built  for  himself  a 
fine  house  of  brick — finer  than  any  in  the  little  set- 

[a6] 


Walter  Van  Twiller 


tlement — and  on  one  of  the  bouweries  nearest  the 
fort,  he  erected  a  summer-house.  On  another  bou- 
werie  he  laid  out  a  tobacco  plantation,  and  had  slaves 
paid  by  the  Company  to  look  after  it. 

1^;  L4  Wi^ 


y^N    Twiller''  s    Defiance. 

When  Van  Twiller  had  been  Governor  three 
years,  he  gave  to  one  of  the  colonists  a  farm  on  the 
western  side  of  the  city  along  the  Hudson  River. 
The  colonist  died  the  year  after  the  farm  was  given 

[27] 


The  Story  of  Manhattan 


him,  leaving  his  widow,  Annetje  Jans,  to  care  for 
the  property. 

Years  after,  when  Queen  Anne  ruled  in  England, 
and  the  English  had  come  into  possession  of  New 
Netherland,  she  gave  the  Annetje  Jans  farm  to 
Trinity  Church.  That  was  almost  two  centuries 
ago.  What  was  once  a  farm  is  now  a  great  business 
section,  crossed  and  recrossed  by  streets.  Trinity 
Church  has  held  it  through  all  the  years,  and  holds 
it  still. 

Close  upon  the  time  when  the  Jans  farm  was 
given  away  by  Governor  Van  Twiller,  a  sailor  of  note, 
who  had  visited  almost  every  country  in  the  world, 
founded  a  colony  on  Staten  Island.  This  sailor 
was  Captain  David  Pietersen  De  Vries.  Staten 
Island  attracted  him  because  of  its  beauty.  After 
the  colony  was  well  started,  De  Vries  travelled  be- 
tween New  Netherland  and  Holland,  and  he  will  be 
met  with  again  in  this  story. 

Although  Governor  Van  Twiller  did  not  do 
much  for  the  colonists,  he  was  very  careful  to  look 
after  his  own  affairs.     He  bought  from  the  Indians, 

[.8] 


The  Story  of  Manhattan 


for  some  goods  of  small  value,  the  little  spot  now 
called  Governor's  Island;  which  was  then  known  as 
Nut  Island,  because  of  the  many  nut-trees  that 
grew  there.     There  is  little  doubt  but  that   Gov- 


Governor^s   Island  and  the  Battery  in  i8^0. 

ernor's  Island  was  once  a  part  of  Long  Island.  It 
is  separated  from  it  now  by  a  deep  arm  of  water 
called  Buttermilk  Channel.  The  channel  was  so 
narrow  and  so  shallow  in  Van  Twiller's  time  that 
the  cattle   could  wade   across  it.      It  was   given  its 

[30] 


Walter   Van   Twiller 


•name  more  than  a  hundred  years  ago,  from  boats 
which  drew  very  Httle  water,  and  were  the  only 
craft  able  to  get  through  the  channel,  and  which 
took  buttermilk  from  Long  Island  to  the  markets 
of  New  York. 

Van  Twiller  bought  the  islands  now  known  as 
Randall's  and  Ward's  Islands,  and  these,  with  some 
others,  made  him  the  richest  landholder  in  the 
colony.  On  his  islands  he  raised  cattle,  and  on  his 
farm  tobacco. 

Many  of  the  colonists  did  not  take  kindly  to 
Governor  Van  Twiller's  methods,  and  among  them 
was  Van  Dincklagen,  the  schout-fiscal.  He  told 
the  Governor  that  it  was  very  evident  that  he  was 
putting  forth  every  effort  to  enrich  himself  at  the 
expense  of  everybody  else,  just  as  Minuit  had  done. 
The  Governor  became  very  angry.  He  told  the 
schout-fiscal  not  to  expect  any  more  salary,  that  it 
would  be  stopped  from  that  minute.  This  did  not 
worry  the  schout-fiscal  much,  as  he  had  not  been  paid 
his  salary  in  three  years!  But  Van  Twiller  did  not 
stop  there.     He  sent  the  schout-fiscal  as  a  prisoner 

[31] 


The  Story  of  Manhattan 


to  Holland,  which  was  a  foolish  thing  for  him  to 
do.  For  the  prisoner  pleaded  his  own  cause  to 
such  good  effect  that  before  the  end  of  the  year 
1637,  Van  Twiller  was  recalled  to  Holland,  after 
he  had  governed  New  Netherland  for  four  years, 
very  much  to  his  own  interest,  and  very  much 
against  the  interest  of  the  West  India  Company 
and  everybody  else. 


Dutch    Costumes, 


[32] 


CHAPTER    V 


William  Kieft  and  the 
War  with  the  Indians 


A  DREARY  winter  came  and  went,  and  just 
as  the  first  signs  of  spring  showed  in  the 
fields  that  closed  about  the  fort,  a  ship 
sailed  up  the  bay,  bringing  a  stranger  to  the 
province. 

This  was  William  Kieft,  the  new  Governor  of 
New  Netherland. 

He  was  a  blustering  man,  who  became  very  angry 
when  anyone  disagreed  with  him,  and  who  very  soon 
was  known  as  "  William  the  Testy."  He  made  no 
effort  to  make  the  Indians  his  friends,  and  the  result 
was  that  much  of  his  rule  of  ten  years  was  a  term  of 
bloody  warfare. 

The  affairs  of  the  Company  had  been  sadly 
neglected  by  Governor  Van  Twiller,  and  Govern- 
or  Kieft,  in  a  nervous,  testy,  energetic  fashion 
set    about    remedying   them.      The    fort   was   al- 

\2i\ 


The  Story  of  Manhattan 


most  in  ruins  from  neglect.  The  church  was  in 
little  better  condition.  The  mills  were  so  out  of 
repair  that  even  if  the  wind  could  have  reached 
them  they  could  not  have  been  made  to  do  their 
work  properly.  There  were  smugglers  who  carried 
away  furs  without  even  a  thought  of  the  koopman, 
who  was  waiting  to  record  the  duties  which  should 
have  been  paid  on  them.  There  were  those  who 
defied  all  law  and  order,  and  sold  guns  and  powder 
and  liquor  to  the  Indians,  regardless  of  the  fact 
that  the  penalty  for  doing  so  was  death.  For  guns 
and  liquor  had  been  found  to  be  dangerous  things 
to  put  in  savage  hands. 

Governor  Kieft  rebuilt  the  houses,  put  down  all 
smugglers,  and  set  matters  in  New  Amsterdam  in 
good  working  order  generally.  The  patroon  sys- 
tem of  peopling  the  colony  had  proven  a  total  fail- 
ure. So,  soon  after  Kieft  came,  the  West  India 
Company  decided  on  another  plan.  They  furnished 
free  passage  to  anyone  who  promised  to  cultivate 
land  in  the  new  country.  In  this  way  there  would 
be  no  patroons  to  act  as  masters.     Each  man  would 

[34l 


William   Kieft 


own  his  land,  and  could  come  and  go  as  he  saw  fit. 
This  brought  many  colonists. 

At  this  time  there   were  really    only    two    well- 
defined  roads  on  the  Island  of  Manhattan.     One 


The  Bowling   Green  in  1840. 

Stretched  up  through  the  island  and  led  to  the  out- 
lying farms  and  afterward  became  The  Bowery  ;  the 
second  led  along  the  water-side,  and  is  to-day  Pearl 
Street.  Bowling  Green,  although  it  was  not  called 
Bowling  Green  then,  was  the  open  space  in  front  of 


The  Story  of  Manhattan 


the  fort  where  the  people  gathered  on  holidays.  In 
the  fourth  year  of  Governor  Kieft's  rule,  he  con- 
ceived the  idea  of  holding  fairs  in  this  open  space, 
where  fine  cows  and  fat  pigs  could  be  exhibited. 
These  fairs  attracted  so  many  visitors  from  distant 
parts  of  the  colony,  that  the  Governor  had  a  large 
stone  house  built,  with  a  roof  running  up  steep  to  a 
peak,  in  regular,  step-like  form.  This  was  called  a 
tavern,  and  could  accommodate  all  the  visitors.  In 
after  years  it  became  the  first  City  Hall. 

If  you  wish  to  stand  where  this  building  was,  you 
must  go  to  the  head  of  Coenties  Slip,  in  Pearl 
Street.  On  the  building  which  is  there  now  you 
will  see  a  bronze  tablet  which  tells  all  about  the  old 
Stadt  Huys. 

The  church  that  Walter  Van  Twiller  had  built 
was  little  better  than  a  barn.  The  minister  wanted 
a  new  one.  So  did  his  congregation.  Governor 
Kieft  decided  that  there  should  be  one  of  stone,  and 
that  it  should  be  built  inside  the  fort.  There  was 
a  question  as  how  to  secure  the  money  to  build  it. 
Kieft  gave  a  small  amount,  as  did  other  colonists, 

[36] 


William   Kieft 


but  there  was  not  enough.  Fortunately,  just  at  this 
time,  a  daughter  of  Bogardus,  the  minister,  was  mar- 
ried. At  the  wedding,  when  the  guests  were  in  good 
humor,  a  subscription-Hst  was  handed  out.  The 
guests  tried  to  outdo  one  another  in  subscribing 
money  for  the  new  church.  Next  day  some  of  the 
subscribers  were  sorry  they  had  agreed  to  give  so 
much,  but  the  Governor  accepted  no  excuses  and 
insisted  on  the  money.  It  was  collected,  and  the 
church  was  built.  Close  upon  this  time  Kieft  de- 
cided that  he  needed  money  for  other  work,  and  he 
told  the  Indians  of  the  province  that  he  expected 
something  from  them.  Of  course  the  Indians  had 
no  such  money  as  we  have  in  these  days.  They 
used  instead  beads,  very  handsome  and  made  from 
clam-shells.  These  beads  were  arranged  on  strings. 
There  were  black  ones  and  white  ones,  and  the 
black  were  worth  twice  as  much  as  the  white.  The 
Indians  did  not  see  why  they  should  give  money 
to  the  Governor.  Kieft  explained  that  it  was  to 
pay  for  the  protection  given  to  them  by  the  Dutch. 
Then  the  Indians  understood  less  than  ever,  for  the 

[37] 


The   Story  of  Manhattan 


Dutch  had  never  done  anything  for  them  except  to 
give  them  as  Httle  as  they  could  for  their  valuable 
furs.     The  Indians  hated  Kieft,  and  this  act  of  his 


Selling  Arms  to  the  hidians. 


made  their  hatred  more  bitter.  A  war-cloud  was 
gathering.  The  Indians  were  well  prepared  for  war, 
for  they  had  been  supplied  with  guns,  with  bullets, 
and   with    powder  by  those   greedy  Dutchmen,  the 

[38] 


William   Kieft 


smugglers,  who    thought    more    of  their    personal 
gains  than  of  the  safety  of  the  colonists. 

Over  on  Staten  Island  about  this  time,  an  Indian 
stole  several  hogs  from  a  colonist.  Kieft's  soldiers 
found  the  tribe  to  which  the  Indian  belonged,  and 
in  revenge  killed  ten  Indian  warriors.  After  this 
the  war-cloud  grew  darker. 

Kieft  was  anxious  that  there  should  be  war.  But 
there  were  many  of  the  colonists  who  did  all  in  their 
power  to  prevent  it.  The  men  who  wanted  peace 
were  headed  by  that  able  sailor,  Captain  David  Piet- 
ersen  De  Vries,  who  had  founded  a  colony  on  Staten 
Island.  A  council  of  twelve  men  was  formed  to 
decide  whether  there  should  be  peace  or  war.  This 
council  declared  that  thereshould.be  no  war.  They 
then  began  to  look  into  public  affairs,  for  they 
thought  it  all  wrong  that  Kieft  should  have  the  only- 
voice  in  the  management.  The  Governor  regretted 
having  called  together  the  twelve  men.  But  he 
soon  got  rid  of  them,  and  to  show  that  he  was  still 
absolute  ruler,  he  decided  to  make  war  upon  the 
Indians.     Then  the  war-cloud  broke. 

139-] 


The  Story  of  Manhattan 


Those  Indians  who  lived  nearest  New  Amster- 
dam were  fighting  with  another  tribe  called  the 
Mohawks.  The  nearby  Indians  thought  that  since 
Kieft  had  been  paid  to  protect  them,  he  should  do 
so  now.  So  they  gathered,  some  on  the  Island  of 
Manhattan,  and  some  on  the  nearby  shore  of  New 
Jersey.  But  instead  of  protecting  them,  Kieft  sent 
his  soldiers  against  these  friendly  Indians,  and  In  the 
night  killed  them  as  they  slept.  The  soldiers  came 
so  suddenly  upon  the  Indians,  sleeping  peacefully 
on  the  Jersey  shore,  and  slew  them  so  quickly  in  the 
darkness,  that  the  Indians  believed  they  had  been 
attacked  by  the  unfriendly  tribe.  One  Indian,  with 
his  squaw,  made  his  way  to  the  fort.  He  was  met 
at  the  gate  by  De  Vrles.  "  Save  us,"  he  cried,  "  the 
Mohawks  have  fallen  upon  us,  and  have  killed  all 
our  people."  But  De  Vrles  answered,  sadly,  "  No 
Indian  has  done  this.  It  Is  the  Dutch  who  have 
killed  your  people."  And  he  pointed  toward  the 
deep  woods  close  by.  "  Go  there  for  safety,  but  do 
not  come  here." 

This   was   not  war.     It  was   murder.     A   cruel, 

[40] 


William  Kieft 


treacherous  act,  which  the  greater  number  of  colo- 
nists condemned  and  the  record  of  which  is  a  dark 
stain  on  the  memory  of  WilHam  Kieft. 

After  this,  all  the  Indians  within  the  border  of 
New  Netherland  combined.  Colonists  were  shot  as 
they  worked  in  the  fields.  Cattle  were  driven  away. 
Houses  were  robbed  and  burned.  Women  and 
children  were  dragged  into  captivity.  The  waf 
raged  fiercely  for  three  years.  By  this  time  Ind- 
ians and  colonists  were  worn  out.  Then  the  wai 
ended.  But  scarcely  a  hundred  men  were  left 
on  the  Island  of  Manhattan.  The  country  was 
a  waste. 

A  strong  fence  had  been  built  across  the  island, 
to  keep  what  cattle  remained  within  bounds.  This 
fence  marked  the  extreme  limit  of  the  settlement  of 
New  Amsterdam.  The  fence  in  time  gave  place 
to  a  wall,  and  when  in  still  later  years  the  wall  was 
demolished  and  a  street  laid  out  where  it  had  been, 
the  thoroughfare  was  called  Wall  Street,  and  re- 
mains so  to  this  day. 

While  the  entire  province  was  in  a  very  bad  way, 
[41] 


The  Story  of  Manhattan 


and  the  people  suffering  on  every  side,  Governor 
Kieft  sent  to  the  West  India  Company  in  Hol- 
land his  version  of  the  war.  He  showed  him- 
self to  be  all  in  the  right,  and  proved,  to  his  own 
satisfaction,  that  the  province  was  in  a  fairly  good 
condition  ;  though  during  all  the  years  he  had 
been  Governor  he  had  not  once  left  the  settlement 
on  the  Island  of  Manhattan  to  look  after  other 
parts. 

Certain  of  the  colonists  also  sent  a  report  to  Hol- 
land. Theirs  being  much  nearer  the  truth,  carried 
such  weight  with  it,  that  the  West  India  Company 
decided  on  the  immediate  recall  of  Governor  Kieft, 
who  had  done  so  much  injury  to  the  colony,  and 
had  shown  himself  to  be  utterly  incapable  of  gov- 
erning. 

Kieft  returned  to  Holland  in  a  ship  that  was 
packed  from  stem  to  stern  with  the  finest  of  furs. 
The  ship  was  wrecked  at  sea.  Kieft  was  drowned, 
and  the  furs  were  lost. 

In  the  same  ship  was  Everardus  Bogardus  (the 
minister  who   had   married  Annetje  Jans),  who  was 

[42] 


William  Kieft 


on  his  way  to  Holland  on  a  mission  relating  to  his 
church.  The  people  of  New  Amsterdam  mourned 
for  their  minister,  but  there  was  little  sorrow  felt  for 
the  Governor  who  had  plunged  the  colony  in  war  by 
his  obstinate  and  cruel  temper. 


Smoking  the  Pipe  of  Peace. 


[43] 


CHAPTER    V  I 


Peter  Stuyvesant,  the 

Last  of  the  Dutch 

Governors 


IT  was  a  gay  day  for  the  little  colony  of  New 
Amsterdam,  that  May  morning  in  the  year 
1647,  when  a  one-legged  man  landed  at  the 
lower  part  of  the  island,  and  stumped  his  way  up 
the  path  that  led  to  the  fort.  Not  only  everyone 
that  lived  in  the  town  gathered  there,  but  everyone 
on  the  island,  and  many  from  more  distant  parts. 
There  were  Indians,  too,  who  walked  sedately,  their 
quiet  serenity  in  strange  contrast  to  the  colonists, 
who  yelled  and  shouted  for  joy,  and  clapped  their 
hands  at  every  salute  from  the  guns.  And  when 
the  fort  was  reached  (it  was  only  a  few  steps  from 
the  river-bank)  the  man  with  the  wooden  leg 
turned  to  those  who  followed  him.  The  guns  were 
silent,  and  the  people  stood  still. 

[44] 


Peter  Stuyvesant 


"  I  shall  govern  you,"  said  he,  "  as  a  father  does 
his  children." 

Then  there  were  more  shouts,  and  more  booming 
of  cannon,  and  the  name  of  Peter  Stuyvesant  was 
on  every  tongue.  For  the  man  with  a  wooden  leg 
was  Peter  Stuyvesant,  the  new  Governor  appointed 
by  the  West  India  Company,  and  not  one  of  those 
who  shouted  that  day  had  an  idea  that  he  was  to  be 
the  last  of  the  Dutch  governors. 

Stuyvesant  had  long  been  in  the  employ-  of  the 
West  India  Company,  and  his  leg  had  been  shot 
off  in  a  battle  while  he  was  in  their  service. 

He  was  a  stern  man,  with  a  bad  temper,  and 
seemed  to  have  made  it  a  point  in  life  never  to 
yield  to  anyone  in  anything.  He  ruled  In  the  way 
he  thought  best,  and  he  let  it  always  be  under- 
stood that  he  did  not  care  much  for  the  advice 
of  others.  He  did  what  he  could  for  the  people 
to  make  their  life  as  happy  as  possible.  Of  course 
he  had  orders  from  the  West  India  Company  that 
he  was  bound  to  obey,  and  these  orders  did  not 
always   please  the  people.     But  his  rule  was  just, 

[45] 


The  Story  of  Manhattan 


and  he  was  the  most  satisfactory  of  all  the  Dutch 
governors. 

Stuyvesant's  first  work  was  to  put  the  city  in 
better  condition.  He  did  this  by  having  the  vacant 
lots  about  the  fort  either  built  upon  or  cleared. 
The  hog-pens  which  had  been  in  front  of  the 
houses  were  taken  away.  All  the  fences  were  put  in 
repair,  and  where  weeds  had  grown  rank,  they  were 
replaced  by  pretty  gardens.  These,  and  a  great 
many  other  things  he  did,  until  the  town  took  on 
quite  a  new  air. 

Up  to  this  time  the  people  had  been  ruled 
by  governors  who  did  all  things  just  as  they 
saw  fit.  They  became  tired  of  this,  and  com- 
plained so  much  that  the  Company  in  Holland 
decided  to  make  a  change.  So  after  Stuyve- 
sant  had  been  Governor  for  a  while,  some  other 
officers  were  appointed  to  help  him.  There  was 
one  officer  called  a  schout,  very  much  the  same 
as  a  mayor  is  in  these  days.  Two  others  were 
called  burgomasters,  and  ^v^  others  were  called 
schepens.     The    burgomasters    and    the    schepens 

[46] 


Peter   Stuyvesant 


presided  over  the  trials,  In  the  stone  tavern  which 
Governor    Kieft    had    built    at   Coentles   Slip,   and 


7he    Old  Stadt  Huys  of  New  Amsterdam, 

which  had  now    become  the    Stadt  Huys  or    City 
Hall. 

With    the    appointment   of  these    officers,    New 

[47] 


The  Story  of  Manhattan 


Amsterdam  became  a  city.  But  as  Governor  Stuy- 
vesant  named  the  officers  and  as  he  plainly  told  them 
that  they  must  not  interfere  with  his  orders,  and  as 
he  still  had  his  own  way,  regardless  of  what  the  of- 
ficers said  and  did,  the  colony  was  little  different  as 
a  city  from  what  it  had  been  before. 

In  the  fall  of  this  year,  1652,  war  was  declared 
between  England  and  Holland.  Stuyvesant,  fearing 
that  the  English  in  New  England,  which  was  on 
the  borders  of  New  Netherland,  would  attack  the 
city,  set  about  fortifying  it.  The  fence  that  Gov- 
ernor Kieft  had  built  so  that  the  cattle  could  not 
wander  away  was  changed  into  a  wall  that  extended 
from  river  to  river.  The  fort  was  repaired,  and  a 
strong  body  of  citizens  mounted  guard  by  day  and 
by  night.  Everything  was  prepared  for  an  attack. 
But  the  enemy  did  not  come  after  all. 

Matters  went  along  quietly  enough  for  three  years, 
until  some  Swedes  on  the  Delaware  River  began  to 
build  houses  on  Dutch  lands.  Then  Stuyvesant, 
with  160  men,  in  seven  ships,  sailed  around  to 
the  Delaware  River,  and  conquered  the  Swedes, 

[48] 


Peter  Stuyvesant 


It  was  quite  ten  years  since  the  Indian  war,  and 
Stuyvesant,  by  his  kindness,  had  made  friends  of 
the  savages,  and  had  come  to  be  called  their  "  great 
friend.'*  But  soon  after  he  left  to  make  war  on  the 
Swedes,  one  of  the  colonists  killed  an  Indian.  In 
a  few  days  there  was  an  uprising  of  Indian  tribes. 
In  New  Jersey  and  on  Staten  Island  they  murdered 
colonists,  burned  houses,  and  laid  farms  waste. 
Stuyvesant  hurriedly  returned.  He  made  peace 
with  the  Indians,  treating  them  kindly,  as  though 
there  had  never  been  any  trouble.  He  gave  them 
presents,  and  used  such  gentle  measures  that  the 
war  which  had  threatened  to  be  so  serious  ended 
abruptly. 

In  the  calmer  days  that  followed,  attention  was 
given  to  improvements  in  the  city.  By  this  time 
there  were  a  thousand  persons  on  the  island. 
Streets  were  nicely  laid  out,  and  the  city  of  New 
Amsterdam  grew,  day  by  day.  It  was  a  tiny  place 
still,  however,  for  it  all  lay  below  the  present  Wall 
Street.  Some  distance  beyond  the  city  wall  was  a 
fenced-in  pasture  for  cattle,  which  was  later  to  be- 

[491 


The  Story  of  Manhattan 


come  The  Common,  and  still  later  City  Hall  Park. 
Farther  on  there  was  a  wide  lake,  so  deep  that  it 
was  thought  to  be  bottomless.  On  its  banks  were 
a  vast  heap  of  oyster-shells,  where  an  Indian  village 
had  been.  This  place  was  called  Kalch-hook,  or 
Shell-point.  Afterward  it  was  shortened  to  The 
Kalch,  and  in  time  was  called  The  Collect.  The 
lake  was  called  Collect  Lake.  There  is  no  trace 
of  it  to-day,  for  it  was  filled  in,  and  the  Tombs 
Prison  now  stands  upon  the  spot. 

The  entire  province  was  in  a  flourishing  con- 
dition, but  danger  was  near.  The  English  had 
long  looked  with  covetous  eye  upon  the  possessions 
of  the  Dutch  in  America.  The  English,  it  must  be 
remembered,  claimed  not  only  New  Netherland, 
but  a  great  part  of  the  American  continent,  on  the 
plea  that  the  Cabots  had  discovered  it. 

After  all  this  long  time,  when  the  Cabots  had 
been  forgotten  by  most  persons,  in  the  year  1664, 
Charles  II.  decided  that  the  English  claim  was  just, 
and  gave  New  Netherland  to  his  brother  James, 
Duke  of  York.     The  Duke  of  York  at  once  sent 

[50] 


Peter  Stuyvesant 


four  ships  filled  with  soldiers  to  take  possession  of 
his  property. 

When  the  English  war-ships  sailed  up  the  bay, 
the  town  was  ill-protected,  and  the  people  had  no 
desire  to  resist,  for  Stuyvesant  and  the  West  India 
Company  had  been  most  strict,  and  they  hoped  to 
be  more  free  under  English  rule.  Stuyvesant,  with 
scarcely  a  supporter,  stood  firm  and  unyielding. 
He  had  no  thought  of  submitting  to  superior  force. 
"  I  would  rather  be  carried  out  dead,"  he  ex- 
claimed. But  when  at  length  he  realized  that  he 
was  absolutely  alone,  and  that  there  were  no  means 
of  defence  for  the  city,  he  surrendered. 

On  this  same  morning  of  September  8,  1664, 
Stuyvesant,  with  his  head  bowed  sadly,  marched  at 
the  head  of  his  soldiers  out  of  Fort  Amsterdam, 
with  flags  flying  and  drums  beating.  And  the 
English  soldiers,  who  had  landed,  and  were  waiting 
a  little  way  ofl^,  entered  the  fort  with  their  flags  fly- 
mg  and  their  drums  beating. 

So  the  city  of  New  Amsterdam  became  the  city  of 
New  York,  and  the  province  of  New   Netherland 

[53] 


The   Story  of  Manhattan 


became  the  province  of  New  York,  and  Fort  Am- 
sterdam became  Fort  James — all  this  in  honor  of 
James,  Duke  of  York,  who  now  came  into  posses- 
sion. 

Stuyvesant  went  to  Holland  to  explain  why  he 
had  surrendered  New  Netherland.  But  he  came 
back  again,  and  years  after  he  died  in  the  little 
Bouwerie  Village  which  he  had  built.  In  St. 
Mark's  Church  to  this  day  may  be  seen  a  tablet 
which  tells  that  the  body  of  the  last  Dutch  Gov- 
ernor lies  buried  there. 


[54] 


CHAPTER    VII 


New  York  under  the  EnG' 
LiSH  and  the  Dutch 


SO  now  the  conquered  province  had  come  into 
the  possession  of  the  Duke  of  York,  and 
Colonel  Richard  Nicolls,  who  was  in  com- 
mand of  the  English  soldiers,  took  charge.  This  first 
English  Governor  appeared  anxious  to  make  all  the 
people  his  friends.  He  made  Thomas  Willett 
Mayor,  and  Willett  being  very  popular,  all  the  citi- 
zens rejoiced,  and  said  the  new  Governor  was  a  fine 
man.  During  three  years  Colonel  Nicolls  hu- 
mored the  people  so  much  that  they  were  well  sat- 
isfied.  At  the  end  of  that  time  he  had  grown  tired 
of  the  new  country,  and  asked  to  be  relieved.  The 
people  were  really  sorry  when  he  returned  to  Eng- 
land and  Francis  Lovelace  took  his  place. 

Governor  Lovelace  did  not  get  along  so  well. 
He  was  a  man  of  harsh  manner,  who  did  not  have 
the  patience  or  the  inclination  to  flatter  with  fine 

[55] 


The  Story  of  Manhattan 


promises.  Lovelace  wanted  everyone  to  under- 
stand that  he  was  master.  Very  soon,  when  the 
people  said  they  thought  they  should  have  the 
right   to    control   their    own   affairs,   the    Governor 


Departure  of   Nicolis. 

told  them  that  he  did  not  think  it  was  best  for 
them  to  have  too  much  to  do  with  the  governing 
of  the  city.  But  he  did  some  things  that  pleased 
the  people.      For  one  thing,  he  brought  about  the 

[56] 


New  York    under  the  English    and  Dutch 


custom  of  having  merchants  meet  once  a  week  at 
a  bridge  which  crossed  Broad  Street  at  the  present 
Exchange  Place.  There  is  no  bridge  there  now, 
but  in  those  days  it  was  necessary,  for  Broad  Street 
was  a  ditch  which  extended  from  the  river  almost 
to  Wall  Street.  But  though  the  ditch  has  been 
filled  up,  and  the  bridge  is  gone,  the  locality  has 
ever  since  been  one  where  merchants  have  gath- 
ered. 

The  Governor  also  had  a  messenger  make  regu- 
lar trips  to  Boston  with  letters,  which  was  the  first 
mail  route  from  the  city.  Matters  were  going 
along  nicely  when  trouble  arose  between  England 
and  Holland  again.  Then  the  Dutch  decided  that 
it  would  be  a  good  time  to  get  back  their  lost  prov- 
ince of  New  Netherland.  The  English  in  New 
York  heard  of  this,  and  made  all  sorts  of  warlike 
preparations.  But  the  Dutch  were  so  long  in  com- 
ing that  the  preparations  for  war  were  given  up. 
Finally  the  Dutch  ships  did  arrive  unexpectedly, 
sailing  up  the  bay  one  morning  in  the  month  of 
July,  in  the  year  1673.     Governor  Lovelace  was  in 

[57] 


The  Story  of  Manhattan 


a  distant  part  of  the  colony,  and  the  city  had  been 
left  under  the  care  of  Captain  John  Manning. 

Manning  was  in  despair.  He  knew  full  well 
that  there  was  no  hope  of  defending  the  city  suc- 
cessfully. He  sent  a  messenger  dashing  off  to  the 
Governor,  and  he  sent  another  to  the  Dutch  ships  to 
ask  what  they  were  doing  in  the  bay,  just  as  though 
he  did  not  know.  The  Dutch  sent  word  back  that 
the.  city  must  be  surrendered  to  them  that  same 
day.  And  to  show  they  meant  what  was  said,  the 
Dutch  admiral  despatched  one  of  his  captains,  An- 
thony Colve  by  name,  who  landed  with  600  men. 
The  Dutch  captain  agreed  that  if  th-e  English  left 
the  fort  without  a  show  of  resistance,  they  could  do 
so  with  the  honors  of  war  and  without  interference. 
Then  he  and  his  soldiers  tramped  down  the  road 
that  is  now  Broadway.  The  English  marched  out 
of  the  fort,  and  the  Dutch  marched  in ;  just  as  nine 
years  before  the  Dutch  had  marched  out  and  the 
English  had  marched  in. 

When  the  King  in  England  heard  that  New 
York   had  been   so  easily  captured,   all   the   blame 

[58] 


New  York    under  the  English   and  Dutch 


was  placed  on  Captain   Manning,  and  after  a  time 
you  will  see  what  became  of  him. 

Captain  Colve  took   charge  of  the  reconquered 


The   Dutch    Ultimatum. 


province.  He  began  industriously  to  undo  all  that 
the  English  had  done.  The  province  was  again 
named  New  Netherland.     The  city  was  called  New 

[59] 


The  Story  of  Manhattan 


Orange,  in  honor  of  the  Prince  of  Orange — a  prince 
of  Holland,  who  in  a  few  years  was  to  marry  a 
daughter  of  the  Duke  of  York,  and  who  in  a  few 
more  years  was  to  be  King  of  England  under  the 
title  of  William  III. 

Captain  Colve  put  the  fort  in  good  condition, 
repaired  the  city  wall,  made  a  soldier  of  every  man 
and  drilled  them  every  day.  He  had  the  city  gates 
locked  at  night,  and  put  a  guard  at  them  to  see 
that  no  one  came  in  or  passed  out. 

In  less  than  a  year,  when  the  city  was  in  shape 
to  be  defended,  the  English  and  the  Dutch  made 
up  their  quarrel.  The  province  of  New  Nether- 
land  was  returned  to  the  English,  and  became  again 
the  province  of  New  York,  and  the  Dutch  soldiers 
left  the  Island  of  Manhattan,  never  again  to  return 
to  it  in  warlike  array. 


[60] 


CHAPTER    VIII 


Something  about  the 
Bolting  Act 


EDMUND  ANDROS  was  sent  to  govern 
New  York  for  the  Duke  of  York.  The 
people  complained  a  good  deal  because  he 
acted  as  though  he  were  a  king  with  absolute 
power.  They  asked  that  they  have  some  voice  in 
the  direction  of  their  affairs.  They  got  up  a  peti- 
tion and  sent  it  to  the  Duke  in  England. 

"What  do  the  people  wantP"  said  the  Duke. 
"  If  they  are  not  satisfied,  they  can  always  appeal  to 
me."  He  did  not  see  that  they  had  just  appealed 
to  him,  and  in  vain. 

Captain  Manning,  who  had  been  in  charge  of 
the  province  when  the  Dutch  recaptured  it,  came 
again  to  New  York  with  Andros.  Many  who  had 
lost  their  property  by  the  coming  of  the  Dutchj 
complained  bitterly  to  Andros.  So  the  Governor, 
and  his  council,  and  the  officers  of  the  city  held 

[6i] 


The  Story  of  Manhattan 


many  conferences,  with  the  result  that  Captain 
Manning  was  arrested.  He  was  found  guilty  of 
cowardice,  and  his  sword  was  broken  in  front  of  the 
Stadt  Huys  in  the  presence  of  the  citizens,  and 
he  was  declared,  on  the  good  authority  of  King 
Charles  II.,  unfit  ever  again  to  hold  public  office. 

Although  disgraced.  Captain  Manning  did  not 
seem  to  care  much.  He  owned  a  beautiful  wooded 
island  in  the  East  River,  to  which  he  now  retired. 
He  was  wealthy,  and  there  he  lived  and  entertained 
royally  during  the  remainder  of  his  life. 

Andros  did  many  things  for  the  general  good. 
When  he  had  been  Governor  four  years,  and  when 
the  most  important  product  of  trade  was  flour,  a 
law  was  made  by  which  no  one  was  permitted  to 
make  flour  outside  of  the  city.  This  was  called 
the  Bolting  Act.  Flour  cannot  be  made  unless  it 
is  "  bolted  " — or  has  the  bran  taken  from  it — and  so 
the  act  came  by  its  name.  The  right  to  grind  all 
the  grain  into  flour  may  not  now  seem  very  import- 
ant, but  it  really  was,  for  it  brought  all  the  trade  to 
the  city.     So  you  see  the  Bolting  Act  was   a  very 

[62] 


Something  about  the  Bolting  Act 


good  thing  for  the  city,  and  very  bad  for  the  peo- 
ple who  did  not  live  in  the  city.  The  city  folks 
became  very  prosperous  indeed,  but  the  others, 
because  they  could  not  make  or  sell  flour,  became 
poorer  day  by  day. 

This  went  on  for  sixteen  years,  and  then  the  law 
came  to  an  end.  But  by  that  time  all  the  business 
of  the  entire  province  had 
centred  in  the  city  so  firmly 
that    it    could    not    be    drawn 


away. 

So,  after  this,  when  you 
look  at  a  picture  of  the  Seal  of 
New  York,  and  see  a  wind- 
mill and  two  barrels  of  flour,  you  will  remember 
that  the  windmill  sails  worked  the  mill,  and  the 
barrels  were  filled  with  flour  which  laid  the  founda- 
tion of  the  city's  fortunes  ;  and  were  put  on  the  seal 
so  that  this  fact  would  always  be  remembered.  The 
beavers  on  the  seal  suggest  the  early  days  when  the 
trade  in  beaver  skins  made  a  city  possible.  At  one 
time  there  was  a  crown  on  the  seal — a  king's  crown 

[63] 


The  Story  of  Manhattan 


— but  that  gave  way  to  an  eagle  when  the  English 
King  no  longer  had  a  claim  on  New  York. 

Now  that  the  province  was  prosperous,  one 
would  think  that  the  people  would  have  been  quite 
happy.  But  they  were  not.  They  did  not  Hke 
Governor  Andros  because  they  thought  that  he 
taxed  them  too  heavily,  and  they  sent  so  many 
petitions  to  the  Duke  of  York  that,  in  1681, 
Andros  was  recalled,  and  Colonel  Thomas  Dongan 
was  appointed  the  new  Governor.  A  few  years 
later,  when  the  Duke  of  York  became  King  James 
II.,  he  remembered  how  carefully  Andros  had  car- 
ried out  his  orders,  and  appointed  him  Governor  of 
New  England ;  where  he  conducted  matters  so 
much  to  the  satisfaction  of  his  King  that  he  earned 
the  title  of  "The  Tyrant  of  New  England." 

When  Governor  Dongan  reached  the  city  and 
announced  that  the  Duke  had  instructed  him  to  let 
the  people  have  something  to  say  as  to  how  they 
should  be  governed,  he  was  joyfully  received.  It 
really  seemed  now  that  everything  was  going  to  be 
satisfactory.       But    there    came    a    sudden    check. 

[64I 


Something  about  the  Bolting  Act 


Two  years  after  Dongan  became  Governor,  the 
Duke  of  York  was  made  King  of  England.  He 
thereupon  ordered  Dongan  to  make  all  the  laws 
himself,  without  regard  to  what  the  people  did  or 
did  not  want.  The  power  to  make  the  laws  was  a 
great  power,  but  Governor  Dongan  was  a  fair  and 
just  man  and  did  not  abuse  it.  The  year  after  this 
he  granted  a  charter  to  the  city,  known  ever  since 
as  the  Dongan  Charter,  which  was  so  just  that  it  is 
still  the  base  on  which  the  rights  of  citizens  rest. 

But  while  Dongan  was  popular  with  the  King's 
subjects,  he  became  unpopular  with  the  King.  This 
was  because  he  stood  in  the  way  of  the  plans  of  his 
royal  master  whenever  those  plans  interfered  with 
the  good  of  the  people.  He  must  have  known 
what  the  result  would  be.  Whether  he  knew  it  or 
not,  it  came  in  the  year  1688.  The  King  joined 
the  colony  of  New  England  and  the  colony  of 
New  York,  and  called  this  united  territory  New 
England.  Dongan  then  ceased  to  be  Governor^ 
having  ruled  the  province  well. 


[65] 


CHAPTER    IX 


The    Stirring  Times 
of  Jacob  Leisler 


SIR  EDMUND  ANDROS,  who,  you  will 
remember,  had  been  appointed  Governor  of 
New  England,  had  been  knighted  for  obey- 
ing the  King's  commands.  He  now  became  Gov- 
ernor of  the  united  provinces.  He  made  his  home 
in  Boston,  and  left  the  care  of  New  York  to  his 
deputy,  Francis  Nicholson.  In  this  year  a  son  was 
born  to  the  English  King,  and  the  people  rejoiced. 
But  these  were  stormy  times  in  England,  for  King 
James  II.  was  a  tyrant  who  ordered  a  great  many  of 
his  subjects  killed  when  they  refused  to  believe  in 
what  he  believed.  And  the  people,  grown  weary 
and  heartsick,  overthrew  King  James  and  put  Will- 
iam III.  on  the  throne.  So  the  sights  and  sounds 
of  rejoicing  over  the  birth  of  a  prince  were  scarcely 
over,  when  the  news  came  that  James  was  no  longer 
King,  and  New  York  was  soon  in  a  state  of  confusion. 

[66] 


The   Stirring  Times  of  Jacob   Leisler 


In  what  had  been  New  England  before  the  prov- 
inces were  united,  the  people  hated  Andros.  They 
arrested  him.  And  as  they  had  never  been  in  favor 
of  uniting  New  England  and  New  York,  they  re- 
stored their  old  officers  and  disunited  the  two  prov- 
inces, Andros  was  sent  a  prisoner  to  England  to  give 
an  account  of  his  doings  to  King  William,  and  New 
York  was  left  without  a  Governor.  The  men  who 
had  served  under  King  James  insisted  that  they  re- 
main in  charge  of  the  province  until  King  William 
sent  new  officers  to  replace  them.  But  most  of 
them  wanted  to  have  all  who  had  had  anything  to 
do  with  King  James  put  out  of  office  at  once.  So 
those  who  wanted  this  change  took  charge  of  the 
city,  and  chose  as  their  leader  a  citizen  named  Jacob 
Leisler.  More  than  twenty  years  before,  this  Jacob 
Leisler  had  come  from  Holland  as  a  soldier  of  the 
West  India  Company.  He  had  left  the  service  and 
had  become  a  wealthy  merchant.  He  had  a  rude 
manner,  and  but  little  education.  He  looked  upon 
as  an  enemy,  and  as  an  enemy  of  King  William, 
every  man  who  did  not  think  as  he  did. 

[67] 


The   Siory  of  Manha  r  j  an 


The  mass  of  the  people  now  gathered  around 
Leisler  and  became  known  as  the  Leislerian  party. 
They  selected  a  number  of  citizens,  calling  them 
the  Committee  of  Safety,  and  the  committee  gave 
Leisler  power  to  see  that  peace  was  preserved. 
Those  who  were  opposed  to  Leisler,  but  who,  just 
as  strongly  as  he,  favored  King  William,  were  called 
the  anti-Leislerian  party.  These  last  were  headed 
by  Francis  Nicholson,  who  had  watched  over  the 
colony  for  Governor  Andros.  Nicholson  finding 
that  he  had  few  followers,  sailed  for  iMigland. 

Leisler  had  the  fortifications  repaired,  and  a 
battery  of  guns  set  up  outside  the  fort.  I'his  is  the 
battery  which  gave  to  the  present  locality  its  name, 
though  all  signs  of  guns  have  disappeared. 

Leisler  had  an  adviser  in  Jacob  Milborne,  his 
son-in-law,  who  wrote  his  letters,  and  counselled 
him  in  every  way. 

In  December  came  a  messenger  from  King  Will- 
iam, with  a  commission  for  whoever  was  in  charge 
of  the  city,  to  act  until  further  orders.  Leisler  ob- 
tained possession  of  the  commission.      He  became 

[68] 


The  Stirring  Times  of  Jacob   Leisler 


bolder  after  this,  and  showed  such  a  disposition  to 
do  just  as  he  pleased,  that  he  made  enemies  of  a 
great  many  of  his  friends.  Advised  by  Milborne, 
he  made  laws,  and  imprisoned  all  those  who  refused 
to  obey  them  or  to  recognize  his  authority.  Day  by 
day  those  who  were  opposed  to  Leisler  and  Mil- 
borne  grew  in  numbers.  Street  riots  occurred,  and 
several  persons  were  injured.  Leisler*s  life  was 
threatened,  and  he  went  about  attended  by  a  guard 
of  soldiers.  Finally  Nicholas  Bayard,  who  had  been 
Mayor,  and  who  was  looked  upon  as  leader  of  the 
anti-Leislerian  party,  was  put  in  prison  with  some 
others.  Bayard  would  doubtless  have  been  ex- 
ecuted had  he  not  written  an  humble  letter  to 
Leisler  saying  that  he  had  been  in  the  wrong  and 
Leisler  in  the  right.  But  he  wrote  to  save  his 
life,  not  that  he  really  believed  himself  to  be  in 
the  wrong.  He  did  save  his  life,  but  he  was  kept 
in  jail. 

Leisler's  enemies  continued  active.  They  had  a 
powerful  friend  in  Francis  Nicholson,  who  had 
reached   England  and   had  been  received  with  favor 

[69] 


The   Si  ory  of  Manhattan 


there.      He  hated  Leisler,  and  denounced  him  as  a 
traitor  before  King  William. 

Leisler,  after  he  had  taken  charge  of  the  province, 
wrote  to  the  King,  but  his  letter  was  written  in  im- 
perfect English  and  was  not  understood.  Matters 
were  in  a  bad  state,  and  were  daily  becoming  worse, 
when  the  King  appointed  Henry  Sloughter  Gov- 
ernor of  New  York. 


New    York   in  jyoo. 


[70] 


CHAPTER    X 


The  Sad  End  ^^yjAcoB 
Leisler 


THIS  Henry  Sloughter  was  not  a  good 
choice.  He  was  a  worthless  man,  who 
had  travelled  a  great  deal,  and  had  spent 
other  people's  money  whenever  he  could  get  it. 
Now,  when  he  could  find  no  one  in  l^ngland  to 
supply  him  with  money,  he  took  the  post  of  Gov- 
ernor of  New  York,  and  his  only  thought  was 
how  much  money  he  could  wring  from  the  people. 
The  enemies  of  Leisler  rejoiced  at  his  coming,  for 
they  knew  that  it  meant  the  downfall  of  Leisler. 

Sloughter  sailed  for  New  York  with  a  body  of 
soldiers,  but  his  ship  was  tossed  about  by  the  sea, 
and  carried  far  out  of  its  course,  so  that  the  ship 
of  his  assistant.  Major  Richard  Ingoldsby,  arrived 
first.  But  Leisler  refused  to  give  up  command  un- 
til Sloughter  came.  I'his  was  three  months  later, 
and  during  that  time  Ingoldsby  and  his  soldiers  did 

[7-] 


The  Story  of  Manhattan 


all  they  could  to  harass  Leisler,  who  held  posses- 
sion of  the  little  fort,  and  refused  to  give  it  up  un- 
til he  saw  the  King's  order. 

When  Sloughter  arrived,  members  of  the  party 
opposed  to  Leisler  hurried  on  board  the  vessel, 
and  escorted  him  to  the  City  Hall,  where  at  mid- 
night he  took  the  oath  of  office. 

Within  a  few  days  Governor  Sloughter  and  his 
friends  met  in  the  City  Hall,  where  the  council  of 
the  new  Governor  was  sworn  in — a  council  every 
member  of  which  was  an  enemy  of  Leisler.  Then 
Leisler  was  arrested,  with  his  son-in-law,  Milborne, 
and  both  were  condemned  to  death  as  rebels.  But 
the  Governor  was  afraid  of  displeasing  the  King  by 
putting  Leisler  to  death,  for,  after  all,  Leisler  was 
the  man  who  had  been  the  first  to  recognize  the 
authority  of  King  William  in  New  York.  He  re- 
fused to  sign  the  death-warrant.  But  the  enemies 
of  Leisler  were  not  content.  Nicholas  Bayard,  who 
had  become  more  than  ever  bitter  because  he  had 
been  kept  for  thirteen  months  in  prison,  was  anx- 
ious for  revenge.    The  council  urged  the  Governor 

[72] 


f.,..,  ..4  ■■'■■■ 


5'  51    I 


Sioughter  Signing   Leisler^s    Death-warrant, 


The  Story  of  Manhattan 


to  carry  out  the  sentence,  and  he  finally  signed  the 
death-warrant.  Two  days  later  Leisler  and  Mil- 
borne  were  led  to  execution.  The  scaffold  had 
been  erected  in  Leisler*s  own  garden,  close  by 
where  the  post-office  is  now.  The  people  thronged 
about  it,  standing  in  the  cold,  drizzling  rain.  They 
wept,  for  many  of  them  had  been  on  the  side  of 
Leisler. 

Leisler  ascended  the  scaffold  with  firm  step,  and 
looked  at  the  people  he  had  tried  to  serve. 

"  What  I  have  done  has  been  for  the  good  of 
my  country,"  he  said,  sadly.  "  I  forgive  my  ene- 
mies, as  I  hope  to  be  forgiven." 

And  so  he  died  ;  believing  that  he  had  done  his 
duty. 

Milborne  was  full  of  hate  for  those  who  caused 
his  death.  Close  by  the  scaffold  stood  Robert 
Livingston,  a  citizen  who  had  always  been  strongly 
opposed  to  Leisler.  To  this  man  Milborne  point- 
ed, and  fiercely  cried : 

"  You  have  caused  my  death.  For  this  I  will  im- 
peach you  before  the  Bar  of  God."    And  so  he  died. 

[74J 


The  Sad  End  of  Jacob  Leisler 


The  bodies  of  both  men  were  interred  close  by 
the  scaffold. 

Four  years  later  the  English  Parliament  declared 
that  Leisler  had  acted  under  the  King's  command, 
and  had  therefore  been  in  the  right,  after  all.  So 
tardy  justice  was  done  to  Leisler's  memory. 

After  the  death  of  Leisler,  there  was  an  end  of 
open  revolt,  and  affairs  were  reasonably  quiet,  al- 
though it  was  many  a  long  year  before  the  rancor 
of  the  late  struggle  and  the  bitter  hatred  of  the 
friends  and  enemies  of  Leisler  died  out. 

Order  was  restored,  and  attention  was  turned  to 
public  improvement.  New  streets  were  laid  out, 
and  markets  were  built.  In  front  of  the  City  Hall, 
by  the  water-side  of  Coenties  Slip,  there  were  set  up 
a  whipping-post,  a  cage,  a  pillory,  and  a  ducking- 
block  ;  which  were  to  serve  as  warnings  to  evil- 
doers, and  to  be  used  in  case  the  warning  was  not 
effective. 

But  Sloughter  did  not  live  to  see  these  improve- 
ments completed.  A  few  months  after  his  arrival 
he  died  suddenly,  so  suddenly  that  there  was  a  sug- 


The  Story  of  Manhattan 


gestion  that  he  had  been  poisoned  by  some  friend 
of  Leisler.  But  it  was  proven  that  his  death  was  a 
natural  one,  and  his  body  was  placed  in  a  vault  next 
to  that  of  Peter  Stuyvesant,  in  the  Bouwerie  Village 
church-yard. 


[76] 


CHAPTER    XI 


Governor  Fletcher 
and  the  Privateers 


WHEN  Benjamin  Fletcher  becanie  the 
next  Governor  of  New  York,  in  the 
month  of, August,  1692,  the  people 
gave  a  great  public  dinner  in  his  honor,  and  there 
were  expressions  of  deep  joy  that  so  wise  and 
good  and  pious  a  man  had  been  sent  to  rule  over 
them. 

But  Governor  Fletcher  soon  came  to  be  disliked. 
He  tried  by  every  means  to  enrich  himself  at  the 
public  expense.  More  than  that,  he  wished  to 
make  the  Church  of  England  the  only  church  of 
the  province,  and  to  have  the  English  language  the 
only  language  spoken.  All  of  which  the  people 
did  not  like,  for  the  majority  of  them  still  spoke 
the  Dutch  language  and  attended  the  Dutch 
church. 

Governor   Fletcher   had  great  trouble  in  getting 

[77] 


The  Story  of  Manhattan 


the  Assembly  (the  body  of  men  who  helped  him  to 
govern  the  province)  to  agree  with  him,  but  he 
finally  won  them  over  in  the  matter  of  the  Church 
of  England.  One  of  the  churches  built  at  this  time 
was  Trinity  Church.  It  was  a  quaint,  square  build- 
ing, with  a  tall  spire — not  the  Trinity  Church  of 
this  day,  although  it  stood  on  the  same  spot. 


Bradford'' s  Tombstone. 

[78J 


Governor   Fletcher   and  the  Privateers 


In  the  year  after  Fletcher  came,  the  first  printing- 
press  was  set  up  in  the  city  by  WilHam  Bradford, 
who  came  from  Philadelphia  for  that  purpose.  He 
became  the  public  printer,  and  afterward  issued  the 
first  newspaper.  He  did  a  great  deal  for  the  gen- 
eral good,  and  when  he  died  he  was  buried  in 
Trinity  Church-yard.  Even  now  you  can  see  the 
stone  that  marks  his  grave,  close  by  the  side- 
entrance  of  the  present  church. 

During  much  of  the  time  that  Fletcher  governed, 
the  French  in  Canada  were  continually  threatening 
to  fight  with  the  English  in  New  York.  There 
were  fierce  and  bloody  conflicts  on  the  border,  but 
no  enemy  reached  the  city.  There  was  also  another 
danger  that  grew  stronger  day  by  day.  It  came 
about  as  the  result  of  privateering. 

A  privateer  was  a  vessel  which  under  commission 
from  one  country,  carried  on  war  with  the  ships  of 
other  countries.  The  captains  were  called  priva- 
teers, as  were  the  ships.  These  privateers  were 
so  successful  that  they  grew  bold,  and  instead  of 
attacking  only  the  ships  of  enemies  of  their  coun- 

[79] 


The  Story  of  Manhattan 


try,  they  threw  away  their  commissions  and  at- 
tacked ships  of  all  countries  for  their  private  gain. 
Then  they  were  called  pirates.  They  became  rob- 
bers and  murderers,  for  they  murdered  as  well  as 
robbed.  These  pirates  bore  down  upon  the  ships  of 
all  nations,  carried  off  their  cargoes,  then  sunk  the 
vessels  without  knowing  or  caring  how  many  were 
on  board,  that  none  might  escape  to  tell  the  tale. 

Nowhere  were  the  pirates  more  daring  than  near 
the  American  coast.  The  vessels  of  New  York 
merchants  were  burned  within  sight  of  shore,  and 
the  pirates  were  even  bold  enough  to  enter  the 
harbor  and  seize  the  ships  as  they  lay  at  anchor. 

The  officials  of  the  province  made  no  apparent 
effort  to  suppress  these  pirates.  It  was  thought 
then,  and  has  since  been  believed,  that  they  assisted 
them,  and  were  well  paid  for  such  help.  Governor 
Fletcher  himself  was  suspected  of  sharing  in  the 
pirate  booty.  Merchants  who  feared  to  carry  on 
regular  trade,  as  their  ships  were  almost  sure  to  be 
seized,  came,  after  a  time,  to  lend  their  aid  also  to 
the  pirates,  by  buying  their  cargoes. 

[80] 


Governor   Fletcher  and  the  Privateers 


Finally,  very  few  ships  dared  to  cross  the  ocean. 
Then   the    Enghsh    Government   became   alarmed. 


The  Reading  of  Fletcher's    Commission. 

A  new  Governor  was  searched  for — a  man  strong 
enough  to  resist  the  bribery  of  pirate  crews,  and 
able  to  drive  them  off  the  seas.  And  just  such  a 
man  was  found. 

[8i] 


CHAPTER    XII 


Containing  the  True 
Life  of  Captain  Kidd 


IN  England  there  lived  a  man  who  had  been 
a  great  friend  of  King  William ;  who  had 
been  his  friend  even  before  he  had  become 
King.  This  man  was  Lord  Bellomont.  It  was  he 
who  was  chosen  Governor  in  the  year  1696.  But 
it  was  two  years  after  this  that  he  reached  New 
York.  During  these  two  years  he  worked  hard  in 
the  interests  of  the  province.  He  knew  all  about 
the  pirates,  and  knew  that  it  would  take  a  strong 
force  to  subdue  them.  He  called  upon  the  Eng- 
lish Government  to  fit  out  men  for  this  purpose. 
But  the  Government  had  neither  men,  nor  ships, 
nor  guns  to  spare. 

So  Lord  Bellomont  decided  to  raise  a  private 
armed  force.  He  got  together  a  company,  of  which 
the  King  was  a  member,  and  they  fitted  out  a  strong 
and    fast-sailing   vessel  called  the   Adventure  Gal- 

[82] 


The  True  Life  of  Captain  Kidd 


ley.  Lord  Bellomont  looked  about  for  a  good 
captain.  At  last  he  thought  he  had  found  just  the 
man  in  Captain  William  Kidd.  Captain  Kidd  just 
at  this  time  happened  to  be  in  London,  where  he 
was  well  known,  and  well  liked.  His  home  was  in 
New  York,  where  his  wife  and  daughter  lived  in 
a  fine  house  in  Crown  Street,  and  where  he  was  a 
respected  citizen.  But  best  of  all  for  the  Company, 
Captain  Kidd  had  been  in  command  of  a  privateer, 
and  knew  a  good  deal  about  pirates  and  their  ways. 

And  so  it  came  about  that  Captain  Kidd  sailed 
away,  commander  of  the  Adventure  Galley,  with 
its  crew  of  sixty  sailors,  and  its  thirty  guns,  to  de- 
stroy the  pirates. 

Then  followed  a  space  of  time  during  which 
news  of  the  bold  Captain  was  eagerly  awaited.  It 
came  soon  enough — news  that  was  startling.  Cap- 
tain Kidd  had  been  tempted  by  the  adventurous 
life  and  great  gains,  and  had  himself  turned  pirate  ! 
During  the  next  two  years  he  was  heard  of  as  the 
most  daring  and  fierce  of  pirates,  plundering  and 
sinking  ships,  until  his  name  became  a  terror  on  the 

[83] 


The   Story  of  Manhattan 


sea.  He  collected  great  treasure,  and  then  decided 
to  give  up  piracy.  He  returned  to  New  York,  and 
touched  first  at  Gardiner's  Island,  a  bit  of  land  at 
the  eastern  end  of  Long  Island.  There  he  buried  a 
portion  of  his  treasure.  The  remainder  he  divided 
with  his  crew.  Then  he  went  to  Boston,  took  a 
new  name,  and  intended  to  live  in  quiet  and  lux- 
ury during  the  remainder  of  his  life.  But,  unfort- 
unately, one  day  Lord  Bellomont  was  in  Boston, 
met  him,  and  caused  his  arrest.  In  a  few  months 
he  was  sent  to  England  in  chains.  There  he  was 
executed. 

When  it  was  known  that  Captain  Kidd  had  made 
a  stop  at  Gardiner's  Island,  search  was  made  there 
and  the  hidden  treasure  was  dug  up.  There  were 
rumors  from  time  to  time  that  Kidd  and  his  pirate 
crew  had  stopped  at  points  on  the  East  River  shore 
of  the  Island  of  Manhattan,  and  many  men  hunted 
that  shore  and  sought  in  many  places  for  hidden 
treasure,  but  none  was  ever  found  there. 

During  the  time  that  Captain  Kidd  was  roaming 
the  sea,  Lord  Bellomont  was  governing  New  York. 

[84] 


.$5 


The  Story  of  Manhattan 


The  new  Governor  was  at  first  much  admired.  He 
was  a  fine  man,  with  faultless  manners,  and  a  com- 
mander in  every  inch  of  his  tall  figure.  He  had 
hands  as  soft  as  a  woman's,  a  kindly  eye,  and  a 
gentle  voice.  But  he  could  be  stern,  and  was  stern 
and  unyielding,  too,  when  occasion  required.  He 
dressed  in  better  taste  than  anyone  who  had  ever 
lived  in  the  province,  and  his  horses  and  carriage 
were  finer  than  had  ever  before  been  seen  in  the 
city. 

Friends  of  the  dead  Jacob  Leisler  had  told  Lord 
Bellomont  tales  of  what  a  good  man  Leisler  had 
been,  and  how  he  had  been  unjustly  executed.  So 
Lord  Bellomont,  to  the  end  of  his  life,  favored  the 
friends  of  Leisler. 

He  was  firmly  convinced  that  many  of  the  city 
merchants  had  become  rich  through  dealings  with 
the  pirates.  This  belief  made  many  enemies  for 
him.  Then,  too,  there  were  laws  which  would  not 
permit  merchants  to  trade  with  any  country  except 
England  ;  hard  laws,  that  were  constantly  broken, 
for  the  merchants  could  not   see  why  they  should 

[86] 


The  True  Life  of  Captain  Kidd 


not  trade  with  anyone  they  saw  fit.  Bellomont  was 
so  strict  in  enforcing  these  laws  and  in  collecting 
duties  that  he  made  more  enemies,  who  sought  his 
recall. 

Nevertheless  many  improvements  were  carried 
out  while  Bellomont  was  Governor.  A  first  effort 
was  made  to  light  the  streets,  which  had,  up  to  this 
time,  only  had  the  light  of  the  moon  at  night. 
This  was  done  by  a  lantern  with  a  candle  in  it  hung 
on  a  pole  from  the  window  of  every  seventh  house. 
A  night-watch  was  also  established,  consisting  of 
four  men. 

After  Bellomont  had  been  Governor  for  a  few 
years,  what  remained  of  the  city  wall  was  removed, 
and  Wall  Street  had  its  beginning  on  the  line  of  the 
old  wall.  The  same  year  the  old  Stadt  Huys  was 
found  to  be  in  a  state  of  decay.  Then  a  new  city  hall 
was  erected  on  the  new  Wall  Street,  close  by  where 
Nassau  Street  now  touches  it.  There  were  dun- 
geons in  the  new  building  for  criminals,  cells  in  the 
attic  for  debtors,  and  a  court-room  on  the  main  floor. 

The  first  library,  under  the  name  of  the  Corpora- 
[«7] 


The  Story  of  Manhattan 


New    City  Hall  in    Wall  Street. 


tion  Library,  was  opened  in  the  City  Hall.  This 
is  the  library  that  afterward  became  the  Society 
Library.  It  is  still  in  existence,  and  now  has  its 
home  in  University  Place. 

All  in  all,  Lord  Bellomont  was  a  good  Governor, 
who  did  much  for  the  people,  and  much  to  make 
the  city  an  agreeable  place  to  live  in  ;  and  there  was 
deep  regret  when  he  died  suddenly  in  the  year 
1 701.      He  was  buried  in   the   chapel    in   the  fort, 

[88] 


The  True  Life  of  Captain  Kidd 


and  as  an  especial  honor  to  his  memory  his  coat- 
of-arms  was  fixed  on  the  wall  of  the  new  City  Hall 
in  Wall  Street.  This  was  a  great  honor,  even 
though  the  fickle  people,  a  few  years  later,  when 
a  new  Governor  came,  did  tear  down  the  arms  and 
burn  them  in  the  street. 

John  Nanfan,  the  Lieutenant-Governor,  took 
command  of  the  province  until  news  reached  the 
city  that  Lord  Cornbury  had  been  appointed  Gov- 
ernor. Nicholas  Bayard,  who  had  made  such  a 
bitter  fight  against  Leisler,  and  who  had  been  im- 
prisoned so  long,  hated  Governor  Nanfan,  because 
Nanfan  was  a  friend  of  the  people  who  called  them- 
selves the  Leislerian  party.  So  Bayard  sent  an  ad- 
dress to  Lord  Cornbury  saying  that  Nanfan  was  an 
enemy.  But  Nanfan  arrested  Bayard,  and  had  him 
tried  under  the  self-same  act  under  which  Leisler  had 
been  tried.  This  act  pronounced  traitors  anyone 
who  should  make  an  effort  to  disturb  the  peace  of 
the  province.  Bayard  was  sentenced  to  death,  but 
a  reprieve  was  granted  pending  the  pleasure  of  the 
King.      Before    word    could    be    got    to    England, 

[89] 


The  Story  of  Manhattan 


Lord  Cornbury  arrived.  Bayard  was  promoted 
to  a  place  of  honor,  and  there  was  a  scattering 
of  the  Leislerians,  who  were  now  looked  upon 
as  enemies  of  the  Government. 


Fort   George  in  1740. 


[90] 


CHAPTER     XIII 


Lord  Cornbury  makes 
Himself  very  Unpopular 


IT  was  In  the  year  that  Princess  Anne  became 
Queen  of  England  (1702)  that  Edward  Hyde, 
Lord  Cornbury,  eldest  son  of  the  Earl  of 
Clarendon,  was  sent  to  govern  New  York.  He 
was  a  cousin  of  the  Queen,  and  left  England  to 
escape  the  demands  of  those  to  whom  he  owed 
money. 

When  Lord  Cornbury  arrived  In  New  York,  the 
Mayor,  with  much  ceremony,  presented  him  with  a 
box  of  gold,  containing  the  freedom  of  the  city, 
which  gave  to  him  every  privilege.  It  was  a  great 
deal  of  trouble  and  expense  to  go  to,  for  the  Gov- 
ernor would  have  taken  all  the  privileges,  even  if 
the  Mayor  had  not  gone  through  the  form  of  giving 
them. 

Governor  Cornbury  very  soon  let  his  new  sub- 
jects see   that   he  was   eager  to   acquire  wealth,  and 

[91] 


The  Story  of  Manhattan 


that  he  intended  to  get  it  without  the  slightest 
regard  for  their  interests  or  desires. 

The  Queen  had  told  him  that  he  should  do  all  in 
his  power  to  make  the  Church  of  England  the  es- 
tablished church  of  the  land  ;  that  he  should  build 
new  churches,  punish  drunkenness,  swearing,  and  all 
such  vices,  and  that  he  should  keep  the  colony  sup- 
plied with  negro  slaves. 

There  was  much  sickness  in  the  town — so  much 
that  it  became  epidemic.  So  the  Governor  and  his 
council  went  to  the  little  village  of  Jamaica,  on 
Long  Island,  and  carried  on  the  business  of  the  city 
in  a  Presbyterian  church  building.  When  the  epi- 
demic had  passed,  he  gave  the  church  to  the  Epis- 
copalians, because  he  remembered  that  Queen  Anne 
had  told  him  to  make  the  Church  of  England  the 
established  church.  There  were  riotous  times  in 
Jamaica  after  that,  but  the  Episcopal  clergyman 
occupied  the  house,  and  the  Episcopalians  wor- 
shipped in  the  church  regardless  of  all  protests. 

Not  many  improvements  were  made  during  Lord 
Cornbury's  administration.     He  cared  little  for  the 

[92] 


Lord  Cornbury  makes  Himself  Unpopular 


good  of  the  city  or  for  anything  else  except  his  own 
pleasures.  The  constant  fear  of  war  gave  the  peo- 
ple little  time  to  think  of  improvements.  They 
did,  however,  pave  Broadway  from  Trinity  Church 
to  the  Bowling  Green.  But  do  not  imagine  that 
this  pavement  was  anything  like  those  of  to-day. 
It  was  of  cobble-stones,  and  the  gutters  ran  through 
the  middle  of  the  street. 

The  Governor  came  to  be  detested  more  and 
more  by  the  people,  for  as  the  years  went  by  he 
spent  their  money  recklessly.  He  had  a  habit  of 
walking  about  the  fort  in  the  dress  of  a  woman, 
and  another  habit  of  giving  dinners  to  his  friends 
that  lasted  well  on  toward  morning,  when  the  guests 
sang  and  shouted  so  boisterously  that  the  quiet  citi- 
zens of  the  little  town  could  not  sleep. 

So  when  the  people  grew  very,  very  tired  of  it, 
they  sent  word  to  Queen  Anne  that  her  kinsman 
was  a  very  bad  Governor.  And  she,  after  much 
hesitation,  when  he  had  been  Governor  six  years,  re- 
moved him  from  office.  She  no  sooner  did  this,  than 
those  to  whom  he   owed   money,  and   there  were  a 

[93] 


The  Story  of  Manhattan 


great  many  of  them,  had  him  put  in  the  debtors* 
prison,  in  the  upper  story  of  the  City  Hall  in  Wall 
Street.  And  in  jail  he  remained  for  several  months, 
until  his  father,  the  Earl  of  Clarendon,  died,  and 
money  was  sent  for  the  release  of  the  debtor  pris- 
oner, who  was  now  a  peer  of  Great  Britain. 


View  in  Broad  Street  about  iy40' 


[94] 


CHAPTER    XIV 


Lord  Lovelace  and 
Robert  Hunter 


THE  new  Governor  arrived  in  the  last 
months  of  the  year  1708.  He  was  John, 
Lord  Lovelace.  As  there  had  been  so 
much  trouble  caused  by  the  governors  appropriat- 
ing money  belonging  to  the  citizens,  he  decided  to 
take  a  very  different  course.  He  had  the  public 
accounts  looked  into,  and  said,  "  I  wish  it  known 
to  all  the  world  that  the  public  debt  has  not  been 
contracted  in  my  time."  And  having  said  this 
(which  made  a  fine  impression)  the  Governor  asked 
the  Assembly  to  set  aside  enough  money  for  him 
to  run  the  affairs  of  the  province  for  a  number  of 
years.  This  was  to  be  called  a  permanent  revenue. 
But  the  Assembly  would  do  no  such  thing.  In 
the  midst  of  the  discussion,  Governor  Lovelace 
died,  five  months  after  his  arrival. 

It  was  quite  a  year  after  the  death  of  Lovelace 

[95] 


The  Story  of  Manhattan 


before  his  successor  came.  This  was  Robert  Hun- 
ter, a  most  exceptional  man.  His  parents  were 
poor,  and  when  a  boy  he  had  run  away  from  home 
and  had  joined  the  British  army.  By  working  very 
hard  at  his  books  when  the  army  was  not  fighting, 
by  studying  in  the  soldiers'  quarters  and  on  the 
battle-field,  by  making  friends  with  officers  of  high 
rank.  Hunter  had  grown  to  manhood  brave,  well 
educated,  and  of  graceful  manner.  On  coming  to 
New  York  he  at  once  made  friends  with  many  in- 
fluential persons.  His  most  important  friendship 
was  with  Lewis  Morris,  whom  he  afterward  ap- 
pointed chief-justice.  This  Morris  was  a  son  of 
Richard  Morris,  an  officer  in  Cromwell's  army,  who 
had  come  to  the  province,  purchased  a  manor  ten 
miles  square  near  Harlem,  and  called  it  Morrisania 
— by  which  name  it  is  still  known. 

The  year  after  Hunter  arrived,  New  York  joined 
with  New  B'.ngland  in  a  plan  to  conquer  Canada 
(which  belonged  to  the  French)  and  join  it  to  the 
English  colonies.  Money  was  raised,  troops  were 
gotten  together,  and  ships   and  soldiers   were  sent 

[96] 


Lord   Lovelace  and  Robert   Hunter 


from  England.  But  when  the  attack  was  to  be 
made,  the  English  ships  struck  on  the  rocks  in  a 
fog  off  the  coast  of  Canada,  and  eight  of  them  sank 
with  more  than  800  men.  This  great  loss  put  an 
end  to  the  intended  invasion.  The  soldiers  re- 
turned home,  where  there  was  great  sorrow  at  the 
dismal  failure  of  a  project  that  had  cost  so  much 
money  and  so  many  lives. 

Governor  Hunter  had  only  been  in  the  province 
a  short  time  when  he  began  to  urge  the  Assembly 
to  grant  him  that  permanent  revenue  that  Lovelace 
had  asked  for.  Queen  Anne  had  said  that  he  was 
to  have  it.  But  the  Assembly  would  only  grant 
him  money  from  year  to  year. 

About  this  time  the  first  public  market  for  the 
sale  of  negro  slaves  was  established  at  the  foot  of 
Wall  Street.  More  and  more  slaves  were  brought 
into  the  city,  and  the  laws  were  made  more,  and 
more  strict  to  keep  them  in  the  most  abject  bondagec 
It  had  come  to  be  the  law  that  no  more  than  four 
slaves  could  meet  together  at  one  time.  They  were 
not   permitted  to  pass  the  city  gates,  nor  to  carry 

[97] 


The  Story  of  Manhattan 


weapons  of  any  sort.  Should  one  appear  on  the 
street  after  nightfall  without  a  lighted  lantern,  he 
was  put  in  jail  and  his  master  was  fined.  Some- 
times a  slave  murdered  his  owner.  Then  he  was 
burned  at  the  stake,  after  scarcely  the  pretence  of  a 


The  Slave-Market.      From 


Old  Print. 


trial  ;  or  was  suspended  from  the  branches  of  a  tall 
tree  and  left  there  to  die. 

But  although  the  slaves  were  restrained  and 
beaten  and  killed,  their  numbers  increased  so  fast 
that  the  citizens  were  always  in  fear  that  they  might 
one  day  rise  up  and  kill  all  their  masters.  A  riot 
did  occur  the  year  after  the  slave-market  was  set 

[98] 


Lord   Lovelace  and  Robert   Hunter 


up.  Several  white  men  were  killed  and  a  house 
was  burned.  Many  negroes  were  then  arrested 
and  nineteen  of  them  were  executed  under  a 
charge  of  having  engaged  in  a  plot  against  the 
whites. 

Affairs  moved  along  quietly  for  a  time  after  the 
riot.  The  next  most  interesting  happening  was 
the  putting  up  of  the  first  public  clock,  on  the  City 
Hall  in  Wall  Street.  It  was  the  gift  of  Stephen 
De  Lancey. 

De  Lancey  was  a  Huguenot  nobleman,  who  had 
fled  from  France  when  the  Huguenots  were  perse- 
cuted for  their  faith,  and  had  found  a  home  in  the 
new  world.  He  lived  in  a  mansion  at  the  corner  of 
what  are  now  Pearl  and  Broad  Streets.  The  house 
is  there  yet,  still  called  Fraunces's  Tavern  from  the 
owner  who  turned  it  into  a  tavern  after  De  Lancey 
removed  from  it. 

Governor  Hunter  was  becoming  very  popular 
with  the  people,  when  unfortunately  his  health 
failed.  So  he  surrendered  the  government  into  the 
hands  of  Peter  Schuyler,  who  was  the  oldest  mem- 

[99] 


The  Story  of  Manhattan 


ber  in  the  City  Council,  and  went  to  Europe,  hav- 
ing served  for  nine  years.  For  thirteen  months 
Schuyler  took  charge,  until  William  Burnet,  the 
new  Governor,  replaced  him. 


Fraunces*  s   Tavern » 


[loo] 


CHAPTER    XV 


Governor    Burnet 
and  the  French  Traders 


GOVERNOR  WILLIAM  BURNET  was 
the  son  of  a  celebrated  bishop  of  Eng- 
land. 
His  early  days  were  passed  at  the  Court  of  Will- 
iam III.,  where  he  met  people  of  refinement  and 
culture.  Of  an  observing  nature,  and  studying  a 
great  deal,  he  came  to  be  a  man  of  deep  learning,  a 
good  talker,  with  manners  that  attracted  attention 
wherever  he  went — so  fine  were  they. 

The  city  was  gayly  decorated  in  honor  of  his 
coming.  Women  looked  from  their  windows  and 
waved  their  handkerchiefs.  Men  crowded  the 
streets  and  loudly  shouted  their  welcome. 

Soon  after,  he  married  the  daughter  of  a  leading 
merchant,  and  so  identified  himself  at  once  with  the 
city's  interests.  He  became  the  fast  friend  of  Chief- 
Justice  Lewis  Morris.     Another  friendship  was  that 

[lOl] 


The  Story  of  Manhattan 


he  formed  with  Dr.  Cadwallader  Colden.  We  shall 
hear  more  of  this  man  later.  Besides  being  a  phy- 
sician of  note,  he  had  a  world-wide  reputation  as  a 
writer  on  many  scientific  subjects. 

Along  about  this  time  the  French  were  trying 
hard  to  get  all  the" trade  with  the  Indians,  not  only 
in  the  province  of  New  York,  but  in  all  the  lands 
as  far  west  as  the  Mississippi  country  that  was  then 
wild  and  unexplored.  By  this  they  could  make  a 
great  deal  of  money,  but,  better  still,  would  make 
friends  of  the  powerful  Indian  tribes.  Then  the 
French  hoped  that  the  Indians  would  join  with 
them  against  the  English  and  that  they  could  con- 
quer all  the  English  lands  in  America. 

The  New  York  merchants  were  quite  content  to 
let  the  French  do  the  trading  with  the  Indians,  for 
the  French  traders  bought  all  their  goods  in  New 
York,  and  the  merchants  in  selling  to  them  did  not 
run  the  great  risk  of  being  murdered,  as  they  would 
in  trading  with  the  Indians  in  the  forests.  But  al- 
though the  merchants  were  satisfied,  Governor  Bur- 
net was  not.    He  realized  the  danger  to  the  English 

[102] 


Governor  Burnet  and  tl)e  French  Traders 


provinces  should  the  Indians  become  enemies.  So 
he  decided  to  establish  a  line  of  English  trading 
stations  that  would  enable  the  colonists  to  trade  di- 
rectly with  the  Indians  in  safety.  He  also  made  it 
unlawful  to  sell  goods  in  New  York  to  the  French 
traders. 

The  merchants  bitterly  disapproved  of  these  acts 
of  Governor  Burnet.  They  believed  that  he  had 
dealt  a  death-blow  to  their  French  trade,  and  they 
became  his  bitter  enemies.  He  tried  hard  to  estab- 
lish the  line  of  trading  stations,  but  the  English 
Government  refused  to  help  him  with  money,  and 
the  project  had  to  be  abandoned,  and  the  law  against 
the  French  trade,  which  had  caused  the  trouble,  was 
repealed.     The  trade  was  once  more  carried  on. 

By  this  time  George  II.  had  become  King  of 
England,  which  was  in  the  year  1728.  Influence 
was  brought  to  bear,  and  Governor  Burnet  was 
removed,  and  left  the  province  a  poorer  man  than 
he  had  entered  it. 

Toward  the  end  of  this  same  year  Colonel  John 
Montgomery  was  made  Governor. 

[103] 


The  Story  of  Manhattan 


He  had  been  groom  of  the  bedchamber  of 
George  II.  when  the  latter  was  Prince  of  Wales. 
He  was  a  weak  and  lazy  man,  although  he  had 
been  bred  a  soldier.  You  may  believe  that  he 
never  did  much  in  the  soldiering  line,  for  a  sol- 
dier's life  is  a  hard  one,  and  not  likely  to  encour- 
age a  man  to  be  lazy.  Montgomery  was  given 
a  cordial  welcome,  however. 

The  year  after  he  came,  the  first  Jewish  cemetery 
was  established,  the  remains  of  which  may  still  be 
seen  in  the  neighborhood  of  Chatham  Square  in 
New  Bowery  Street.  It  has  not  been  used  as  a 
graveyard  in  many  a  year,  and  much  of  the  ground 
is  now  occupied  by  buildings.  But  there  is  still  a  por- 
tion, behind  a  stone  wall,  and  crumbling  tombstones 
have  stood  there  ever  so  many  years  longer  than  the 
dingy  tenements  which  hem  them  in  on  three  sides. 

In  the  days  of  Montgomery,  New  York  was 
still  a  small  village,  for  most  of  the  houses  were  be- 
low the  present  Fulton  Street,  and  they  were  not  at 
all  thickly  built,  so  there  was  room  enough  for  pleas- 
ant gardens  around  them. 

[,04] 


Governor  Burnet  and  the  French  Traders 


At  this  time  the  vacant  space  in  front  of  the  fort, 
which  had  been  used  as  a  parade-ground  and  a 
market-place,  was  leased  to  three  citizens  whose 
houses  were  nearby  to  be  used  as  a  Bowling  Green. 
Its  name  came  from  this  and  it  still  keeps  it. 

A  fire  department  was  organized  and  two  engines 
were  imported  and  room  made  for  them  in  the  City 
Hall.  Before  this  the  department  had  consisted  of 
a  few  leather  buckets  and  a  few  fire-hooks. 

In  1 73 1  Governor  Montgomery  died,  and  for 
thirteen  months  after.  Rip  Van  Dam,  oldest  mem- 
ber of  the  council,  and  a  wealthy  merchant,  looked 
after  the  province  until  the  coming  of  William 
Cosby. 


[105] 


CHAPTER    XVI 


The  Trial  of  ZjENGer, 
the  Printer 


COSBY  arrived;  a  testy,  disagreeable  man 
who  loved  money  above  everything  else. 
The  colonists  received  him  with  favor, 
because  they  did  not  know  these  things  about  him. 
The  Assemblygranted  him  a  revenue  for  six  years, 
and  gave  him  a  present  of  ^750  besides.  The 
Governor  thought  this  a  very  small  sum  and  said 
so.  He  presented  an  order  from  the  King  which 
said  that  he  was  to  have  half  the  salary  that  Rip 
Van  Dam  had  received  for  acting  as  Governor. 

But  Van  Dam  would  not  part  with  his  money, 
and  the  people  sided  with  him,  for  they  had  long 
been  weary  of  governors  who  looked  upon  the 
colony  simply  as  a  means  to  repair  their  fortunes. 
Cosby  was  determined  to  get  the  money,  so  he 
sued  Van  Dam.  This  suit  was  conducted  in  a 
court  where   there  were  three    judges,  and  two  of 

[106J 


The  Trial  ,of  Zenger,  the  Printer 


them  were  friends  of  Cosby.  One  of  them  was 
James  De  Lancey,  a  son  of  that  Stephen  De 
Lancey  who  had  given  the  clock  to  the  city.     The 


Dinner  at   Rip    l^an   Dam' s. 

Chief-Justice  was  still  Lewis  Morris,  who  had  been 
appointed  by  Governor  Hunter.  So  with  two 
judges,  friends  of  the  Governor,  he  won   his  suit, 

[.07] 


The  Story  of  Manhattan 


and  Van  Dam  was  ordered  to  pay  him  half  his 
salary. 

More  than  this,  Chief- Justice  Morris,  who  had 
disagreed  with  the  other  two  judges,  was  removed 
from  office,  and  James  De  Lancey  became  Chief- 
Justice. 

The  mass  of  the  people  disapproved  of  these 
doings,  and  there  were  murmurs  of  discontent. 
But  the  Governor  had  his  money,  and  had  made 
his  friend  Chief-Justice,  and  was  running  matters 
pretty  much  his  own  way,  so  he  was  satisfied. 

There  was  still  only  one  paper,  the  New  York 
Gazette^  published  by  William  Bradford.  As 
Bradford  was  the  Government  printer,  It  was  quite 
natural  that  he  should  side  with  Cosby.  But  just 
at  this  time  another  paper  came  Into  existence,  a 
rival  to  the  Gazette,  which  took  up  the  people's 
cause.  This  was  the  New  York  Weekly  Journal, 
published  by  Peter  Zenger,  who  had  been  one  of 
Bradford's  workmen.  Each  week  it  was  filled  with 
articles  assailing  Cosby,  and  all  who  were  in  sympa- 
thy with  him.       Very  soon    Zenger  was    arrested, 

[io8] 


The  Trial  of  Zenger,  the  Printer 


charged  with  publishing  libels  against  the  city  offi- 
cials and  the  King.  He  was  locked  up  in  one  of 
the  cells  in  the  City  Hall. 

The  friends  of  Zenger  secretly  secured  the  ser- 
vices of  Andrew  Hamilton,  a  distinguished  lawyer 
of  Philadelphia,  who  pleaded  his  cause  to  good 
effect,  and  showed  that  Zenger  had  only  spoken  as 
any  man  had  a  right  to  speak,  and  had  pointed  out 
wrongs  where  wrongs  existed.  Justice  De  Lancey, 
remembering  that  his  friend  the  Governor  had  made 
him  Chief-Justice,  told  the  jury  that  they  must  find 
Zenger  guilty.  But  the  jury  pronounced  him  not 
guilty.  Thus  the  freedom  of  the  press  was  estab- 
lished, and  the  jury,  by  their  verdict,  had  opposed 
the  Governor,  his  council,  the  Assembly,  and  the 
judge  before  whom  the  accused  had  been  tried. 

About  this  time  Lord  Augustus  Fitzroy,  young- 
est son  of  the  Duke  of  Grafton,  came  from  Eng- 
land to  visit  Governor  Cosby.  The  Governor 
thanked  him  for  having  honored  New  York  with 
his  presence,  and  told  him  that  the  city  was  open 
and  invited  him    to   go   where   he  pleased.     Lord 

[109] 


The   Story  of  Manhattan 


Augustus  did  not  go  far.  He  fell  in  love  with  the 
Governor's  daughter.  He  did  more  than  fall  in 
love,  for  one  day  he  induced  a  minister  to  climb 
over  the  fort  wall  and  marry  him  to  her,  without 
leave  or  license.  The  friends  of  the  young  noble- 
man were  shocked,  for  the  Governor's  daughter  was 
considered  beneath  him  in  rank.  Governor  Cosby 
was  accused  of  having  brought  about  this  unequal 
match,  although  Lord  Augustus  said  that  it  was  the 
lady's  winning  ways  and  pretty  face. 

Cosby,  after  the  Zenger  trial,  did  what  he  could 
to  check  the  liberty  of  the  citizens,  but  was  soon 
stricken  with  a  fatal  illness.  On  his  death-bed  he 
called  together  the  members  of  his  council,  and  sus- 
pended his  old  enemy.  Rip  Van  Dam,  who  would 
have  been  his  successor  until  another  Governor 
was  appointed.  And  having  done  this  he  died, 
on  March  lo,  1736,  leaving  a  quarrelsome  state  of 
affairs  behind  him. 


[,10] 


CHAPTER    XVII 


Concerning  the  Negro 
Plot 


THE  citizens  were  so  far  from  being  pleased 
when  they  learned  that  Rip  Van  Dam 
was  not  to  act  in  the  Governor's  place, 
that,  for  a  time,  it  looked  very  much  as  though 
there  would  be  a  riot.  There  was  a  member  of  the 
Assembly  named  George  Clarke,  and  when  his  fel- 
low-members chose  him  for  the  place  that  Rip  Van 
Dam  should  have  had,  there  was  more  grumbling. 
But  as  no  Governor  came  from  England  for  seven 
years,  Clarke  looked  after  the  province  all  that 
time.  He  was  an  easy-going  man,  who  tried  by 
every  possible  means  to  make  friends.  There  was 
one  happening  in  particular  by  which  he  is  remem- 
bered.    It  was  called  the  Negro  Plot. 

Slaves  had  been  brought  to  the  city,  until  now 
there  were  2,000  of  them.  The  8,000  citizens 
were  in  constant  dread  lest  the  negroes  should  some 

[in] 


The  Story  of  Manhattan 


day  rise  up  in  revolt.  Early  in  the  spring  of  the 
year  1741  several  fires  occurred  in  different  parts 
of  the  city,  and  the  citizens  felt  quite  sure  that  the 
slaves  had  started  them.  As  the  hours  passed,  the 
idea  of  a  plot  grew  until  it  seemed  a  fact.  Then  a 
reward  was  offered  to  anyone  who  would  tell  of  a 
conspiracy  or  of  anyone  concerned  in  one. 

Just  at  this  time  a  woman  was  arrested  for  a 
small  theft,  and  when  she  heard  of  the  reward,  she 
all  at  once  remembered  that  there  had  been  meet- 
ings of  negroes  at  a  small  tavern  where  she  had 
worked.  She  told  of  a  plan  to  kill  every  white 
person ;  to  set  all  the  negroes  free,  and  to  make 
one  of  them  King  of  the  city.  The  woman  who 
told  this  story  was  Mary  Burton.  The  tavern- 
keeper,  his  wife,  and  several  other  negroes  were 
hanged  in  short  order.  Still  the  fires  kept  on. 
There  were  dozens  within  ten  days,  and  among 
others  the  Governor's  house  in  the  fort  was  burned 
to  the  ground. 

Mary  Burton  now  began  a  remarkable  series  of 
confessions   which  grew   wilder  with    each   passing 

[II.] 


Concerning  the  Negro   Plot 


day.  Negro  slaves  accused  by  her  were  arrested 
in  numbers.  Liberty  was  promised  all  who  would 
speak  the  truth,  and  speaking  the  truth  was  under- 


The  Negroes  Sentenced, 

[113] 


The  Story  of  Manhattan 


stood  to  mean  giving  information  of  a  conspiracy. 
Very  soon  several  negroes  were  burned  at  the  stake 
in  a  little  valley  beyond  the  Collect  Pond.  This 
awful  death  frightened  many,  who  hastened  to  cry 
out  that  they  knew  all  about  the  plot.  There  were 
some  who  saved  their  lives  by  confessing  things 
that  were  not  true  ;  many  more  did  not. 

During  the  whole  long,  hot  summer  the  hanging 
and  burning  of  negro  slaves  went  on.  Late  in  the 
year,  when  Mary  Burton  had  seen  every  person  she 
had  accused  arrested,  she  grew  more  bold.  She 
sought  some  new  story  to  tell,  and  found  one  in 
remembering  for  the  first  time  that  white  people 
had  been  connected  with  the  plot.  Twenty-four 
white  citizens  had  been  arrested,  when  Mary  Bur- 
ton began  to  attack  prominent  townsmen ;  even 
those  who  had  been  foremost  in  the  prosecution  of 
the  negroes.  It  was  only  then  realized  that  the 
woman's  words  could  not  be  relied  upon.  She 
was  paid  the  hundred  pounds  that  had  been  prom- 
ised her,  and  she  disappeared,  leaving  no  trace. 

Gradually  the  fury  of  feeling  against  the  slaves 


Concerning  the  Negro  Plot 


died  away.  Whether  there  had  ever  been  any  real 
plot  will  always  remain  unanswered. 

Certain  it  is,  however,  that  the  witnesses  on  whose 
words  arrests  were  made  were  all  of  uncertain  and 
unreliable  character  ;  that  the  evidence  was  contra- 
dictory, and  that  most  of  it  was  extorted  under  pain 
of  death. 

The  excitement  passed  away  after  a  time,  and 
George  Clarke  went  on  talking  finely  and  managing 
his  own  affairs  so  well  that  he  was  growing  very  rich 
indeed  when  his  official  life  came  to  a  sudden  end. 


["S] 


CHAPTER    XVIII 


The  Tragic  Death  of 
Sir  Danvers  Osborne 


IN  this  year,  1743,  Admiral  George  Clinton  was 
sent  by  King  George  II.  of  England  to  take 
the  place  of  George  Clarke  as  Governor. 
Then  Clarke  packed  up  his  riches  and  went  to 
England  and  enjoyed  the  rest  of  his  life  far  from 
the  little  colony  that  he  had  governed  so  much  to 
his  own  profit. 

Admiral  Clinton  was  the  son  of  an  English  earl. 

When  he  had  been  Governor  not  yet  a  year,  there 
came  a  man  whose  influence  was  soon  felt.  He  was 
Commodore  Peter  Warren,  of  the  British  Navy, 
who  in  later  years  became  an  admiral.  Before  he  had 
been  in  New  York  long,  he  married  Susannah  De 
Lancey,  a  sister  of  the  Chief-Justice.  They  went 
to  live  in  a  new  house  in  the  country,  in  the  district 
which  was  then  and  is  now  known  as  Greenwich. 

England  was   again   at  war  with    France  at  this 


Tragic   Death  of  Sir   Danvers  Osborne 


time.  There  were  tribes  of  Indians  who  sided  with 
the  French,  and  there  were  other  tribes  who  sided 
with  the  EngHsh,  and  the  result  was  a  series  of 
bloody  border  wars.  Two  years  after  the  coming 
of  Governor  Clinton,  New  York,  with  the  other 
English  colonies,  gathered  troops  to  attack  the 
French,  and  a  great  force  was  sent  against  a  city 
called  Louisburg.  This  city  was  on  Cape  Breton 
Island,  which  is  close  by  the  coast  of  Nova  Scotia 
and  was  a  fortress  of  such  great  strength,  that  it  was 
called  the  Gibraltar  of  America.  Commodore  War- 
ren led  the  English  fleet,  and  the  combined  forces 
by  sea  and  land  captured  the  fortress. 

You  will  remember  James  De  Lancey,  who  was 
still  Chief-Justice.  He  was  very  rich,  and  as  he 
showed  at  all  times  that  he  considered  the  Interests 
of  the  citizens  above  all  things,  they  naturally 
thought  a  great  deal  of  him.  For  a  time  he  acted 
as  adviser  to  Governor  Clinton,  but  the  two  had  a 
falling  out. 

For  the  ten  years  that  Clinton  remained  Governor 
he  had  great  trouble  with  the  people,  who  sided  with 


The   Story  of  Manhattan 


De  Lancey.  At  the  end  of  that  time  Governor 
Clinton,  finding  that  his  power  grew  less  and  less, 
and  that  De  Lancey  became  more  and  more  popu- 
lar, resigned  his  office.  A  few  months  went  by,  and 
then  came  Sir  Danvers  Osborne  to  be  Governor. 
On  the  third  day  after  reaching  the  city  he  walked 
out  of  the  fort  at  the  head  of  the  other  officials,  with 
Clinton  by  his  side,  to  go  to  the  City.  Hall,  where 
he  was  to  take  the  oath  of  office.  The  people,  all 
gathered  in  the  streets,  shouted  when  they  saw  the 
new  Governor.  But  at  the  sight  of  Clinton,  whom 
they  hated,  they  hissed  and  shook  their  fists  and 
yelled,  until  Clinton  became  alarmed  and  hurried 
back  to  the  fort,  leaving  the  new  Governor  to  go 
on  without  him.  And  Sir  Danvers  Osborne  was 
much  surprised  and  a  little  frightened. 

"  I  expect,"  said  he  to  Clinton  that  same  day,  "  I 
expect  the  same  treatment  before  I  leave  the  prov- 
ince." 

For  all  the  shaking  fists  and  for  all  the  angry 
shouts,  the  new  Governor  was  well  entertained  that 
day.     The  church-bells  rang,  cannon  boomed,  and 

[.,8] 


Tragic  Death  of  Sir  Danvers  Osborne 


at  night  the  town  was  illuminated.  But  the  citizens 
did  not  do  this  so  much  for  the  new  Governor  as 
they  did  for  De  Lancey,  who  had  now  been  made 
Lieutenant-Governor. 

Two  days  after  Sir  Danvers  took  the  oath  of 
office  he  called  his  council  before  him  and  told 
them  that  the  King  had  said  he  was  to  have  the  per- 
manent revenue  about  which  there  had  been  so 
much  trouble  with  the  other  governors.  And  the 
council  members  told  him,  as  they  had  told  others, 
that  this  command  would  never  be  obeyed.  On 
hearing  this  Sir  Danvers  became  sad  and  gloomy. 
He  covered  his  face  with  his  hands. 

"  Then  what  am  I  come  here  for?  "   he  cried. 

The  very  next  morning  there  was  an  uproar  in  the 
city.  The  Governor  had  been  found  dead,  hang- 
ing from  the  garden-wall  of  his  house.  Then  the 
people  learned  that  his  mind  had  been  unsettled  for 
a  long  time,  and  that  he  had  accepted  the  governor- 
ship hoping  to  be  cured  by  a  change  of  scene.  But 
the  knowledge  that  his  rule  would  be  one  of  con- 
stant   struggling    to    gain    his   ends    had  doubtless 

1119] 


The  Story  of  Manhattan 


proven  too  much  for  his  wrecked  brain.  So  he 
killed  himself,  and  the  government  of  New  York 
was  left  in  the  hands  of  James  De  Lancey,  and  you 
will  see  how  he  still  further  won  the  hearts  of  those 
around  him. 


[ido] 


CHAPTER    XIX 


The    Beginning    of 
Discontent 


TWO  years  James  De  Lancey  acted  as  Gov- 
ernor, and  the  citizens  were  really  sorry 
when  Admiral  Sir  Charles  Hardy  was 
sent  to  take  his  place. 

Sir  Charles  was  not  slow  to  see  and  to  admit 
that  while  he  was  a  good  sailor,  he  did  not  make  a 
good  Governor,  so  after  a  year  he  resigned,  and  the 
province  was  once  more  left  to  the  care  of  De 
Lancey. 

At  this  time  there  was  much  being  said  about  the 
need  for  schools,  and  for  many  years  plans  had 
been  under  way  for  building  a  college  in  the  city. 

Money  had  been  raised  by  means  of  lotteries — 
which  were  popular  and  lawful  then — and  finally 
the  college  was  established.  It  was  called  King's 
College.  It  is  still  in  existence,  but  is  now  Colum- 
bia University.     A  tablet  at  West  Broadway  and 

[121] 


The   Story  of  Manhattan 


Murray  Street  tells  that  the  college  once  stood 
close  by. 

It  was  near  this  time  that  William  Walton,  a 
very  rich  merchant,  built  the  finest  house  that  the 
city  had  yet  known.  This  was  in  Queen  Street, 
not  a  great  way  from  the  Stadt  Huys,  and  the  fur- 
niture and  fittings  were  in  keeping  with  the  ele- 
gance of  the  exterior.  It  was  so  fine  that  the  fame 
of  it  spread  to  England,  where  it  was  spoken  of 
ns  a  proof  that  the  colonists  were  very,  very  rich 
indeed.  This  house  stood  for  129  years.  When 
)t  was  torn  down  it  had  become  a  tenement  that 
showed  scarcely  a  trace  of  its  early  grandeur. 
Queen  Street  is  now  Pearl  Street  and  the  building 
numbered  i^iG  is  on  the  site  of  the  famous  old 
house. 

There  was  another  war  with  the  French  now,  and 
four  expeditions  were  sent  out  against  them.  On 
one  of  these  a  young  officer  with  the  troops  from 
Virginia  distinguished  himself.  He  was  cool  and 
daring  in  the  midst  of  battle.  The  soldiers,  who 
were   themselves  fearless   fighters,  strove   to  be   as 

[122] 


The  Beginning  of  Discontent 


brave  as  he.  This  officer  was  only  twenty-three 
years  old,  and  his  name  was  George  Washington, 
He  had  a  glorious  career  before  him. 

There  came  from  England  in  the  year  following 
this  a  burly,  blustering  man,  who  had  been  ap- 
pointed commander-in-chief  of  the  British  forces  in 
America.  This  Lord  Loudoun  very  soon  proved 
to  everybody's  satisfaction  except  his  own  that  he 
was  not  fit  to  be  a  commander.  The  people  of 
New  York  detested  him  heartily,  and  were  glad 
when  after  three  years  he  was  recalled  because  he 
was  not  successful  in  the  war  against  the  French. 
The  new  commander-in-chief  did  better.  He  was 
General  Jeffrey  Amherst,  and  under  him  the  English 
were  gradually  successful.  Town  after  town  held 
by  the  French  fell,  until  the  capture  of  Montreal, 
in  1760,  secured  to  the  English  the  conquest  of 
Canada,  and  so  ended  a  conflict  which  had  for  many 
years  drained  the  energies  of  the  colonists. 

Soon  after  this  Lieutenant-Governor  James  De 
Lancey  was  found  dead  in  his  library-chair  at  his 
country  home   (now  a  closely  built-up  part  of  the 

[123] 


The   Story  of  Manhattan 


city  at  Delancey  Street,  near  the  Bowery).  In  a 
few  days  his  body  was  taken  from  there,  followed 
by  a  great  concourse  of  people,  and  buried  under 


Trinity    Churchy    l/6o. 

the  centre  aisle  of  Trinity  Church.  Up  to  the 
last  day  of  his  life  De  Lancey  remained  much 
beloved. 

[in] 


The  Beginning  of  Discontent 


The  death  of  De  Lancey  left  the  care  of  the 
colony  to  Cadwallader  Colden,  whom  you  will  re- 
member as  the  friend  of  Governor  Hunter.  He 
had  been  so  long  concerned  in  public  affairs  that  he 
knew  how  to  please.  Before  the  year  was  ended 
England's  King,  George  II.,  died.  When  the  news 
reached  New  York,  the  city  was  draped  with 
mourning.  But  in  another  week  all  signs  of  sad- 
ness had  disappeared  in  honor  of  the  new  King, 
George  III. 

Then  General  Robert  Monckton,  who  had  been 
in  command  of  the  English  forces  on  Staten  Island, 
was  made  Governor.  He  was  a  young  man,  some- 
what careless,  but,  as  was  the  case  with  all  the  new 
governors,  he  was  welcomed  with  glad  shouts  of 
approval. 

England  at  this  time  needed  men  in  her  navy, 
and  the  captains  of  war-ships  were  in  the  habit  of 
boarding  any  vessel  that  sailed  from  the  colonies  in 
America  and  taking  sailors  by  force  to  serve  on  the 
English  ships.  This  increased  a  bitter  feeling  that 
the  colonists  were  beginning  to  have  against  Eng- 


The  Story  of  Manhattan 


land.     The  city   had  now    14,000   inhabitants   and 
was  in  quite  a  flourishing  condition. 

After  two  years  Monckton  tired  of  the  cares  of 
government,  and  sailed  away  to  England,  with 
never  a  thought  of  the  wild  scenes  that  were  to  take 
place  in  the  land  he  left  behind. 


[126] 


CHAPTER    XX 


The  Story  of  the  Stamp 
Act 


THE  colonists  were  becoming  more  and 
more  dissatisfied,  not  only  in  New  York, 
but  in  all  of  the  thirteen  English  colonies 
in  America.  For  they  strongly  objected  to  the  way 
in  which  money  was  being  taken  from  them  in  the 
form  of  taxes.  The  English  had  spent  much 
money  in  the  wars  which  led  up  to  the  conquest 
of  Canada,  and  thought  that  it  should  be  returned 
to  them.  So  they  taxed  the  colonists  in  every 
possible  way.  Protest  was  made  against  these  taxes, 
but  in  vain.  Matters  became  worse  and  worse. 
After  two  years,  when  it  had  come  to  be  the  year 
1765,  the  British  Parliament  passed  what  was  called 
the  Stamp  Act.  This  compelled  the  people  to  buy 
stamps  and  put  them  on  every  sort  of  legal  paper. 
No  one  could  be  married,  no  newspaper  could  be 
printed,  nothing  could  be  bought,  nothing  could  be 

[127] 


The  Story  of  Manhattan 


sold,  no  business  of  any  sort  could  be  carried  on 
without  these  stamps.  No  one  could  evade  the 
use  of  them,  and  in  this  way  all  would  have  to 
contribute  directly  to  the  King. 

More  than  any  other  form  of  tax,  more  than  any- 
thing the  British  Government  had  done,  the  people 
opposed  this  Stamp  Act.  The  colonists  had  no 
one  to  represent  them  in  the  British  Parliament, 
no  one  to  present  their  side,  no  one  to  plead  for 
them  and  tell  what  a  drain  this  tax  was,  so  they 
declared  that  they  would  not  use  a  single  stamp, 
unless  they  were  allowed  to  have  someone  to  repre- 
sent them  ;  and  they  set  up  the  cry,  "  No  Taxation 
Without  Representation.*' 

Very  soon  a  company  of  men  called  the  Sons  of 
Liberty  began  to  be  heard  of  throughout  all  the 
thirteen  colonies.  They  were  foremost  in  opposing 
the  Stamp  Act.  In  many  towns  they  held  meet- 
ings, and  it  was  not  long  before  the  people  were 
aroused  from  one  end  of  the  country  to  the  other. 

Not  many  months  had  passed  before  men  were 
sent  from  each  of  the  colonies  and  met  in  the  City 

1128] 


The  Story  of  the  Stamp  Act 


\ 


Hall  at  New  York.  This  meeting  was  called  a 
Colonial  Congress.  For  three  weeks  these  men 
conferred,  and  during  that  time  decided  that  in  good 
truth  the  Stamp  Act  was  unjust,  and  that  every- 
thing in  their  power  should  be  done  to  prevent  it. 


Coffee- House  opposite  Bowlifig   Greeny    Head-Quarters  of  the 
Sons  of  Liberty. 

In  this  same  year  the  house  which  Stephen  De 
Lancey  had  built  close  by  Trinity  Church,  and  which 
James  De  Lancey  had  lived  in  until  his  death,  had 
become    a    hotel.     It  was    called    Burns's  Coffee- 

[129] 


The  Story  of  Manhattan 


House.  It  was  a  solid  structure,  with  high  beams, 
great  fireplaces,  and  wide  halls.  If  you  go  now  to 
look  for  the  spot  where  it  stood,  you  will  find  a 
crowded  business  section ;  but  in  those  days  there 
were  open  spaces  all  about,  and  a  handsome  lawn 
swept  away  to  the  river.  One  October  night  the 
merchants  of  the  city  gathered  in  this  coffee-house, 
and  here,  late  at  night,  they  signed  a  paper  which 
bound  them  one  and  all  to  buy  no  goods  from 
England  so  long  as  the  English  King  should  com- 
pel them  to  use  the  stamps.  By  this  agreement 
people  could,  of  course,  only  wear  clothing  that  was 
made  in  the  colonies,  and  even  the  wealthy  refused 
to  buy  silk  and  broadcloth  that  were  sent  from 
England.  Tea  and  coflFee,  being  imports,  were  not 
drunk,  and  in  their  place  were  used  preparations 
made  from  fragrant  wild  herbs  of  the  American 
soil. 

The  merchants  who  had  assembled  in  the  coffee- 
house were  called  the  Non-Importation  Association, 
branches  of  which  spread  throughout  all  the  colonies. 
The   paper    they   signed   was   the   non-importation 

[130] 


The  Story  of  the  Stamp  Act 


agreement.  Next  day,  which  was  the  first  on 
which  the  stamps  were  to  be  distributed,  the  city 
seemed  to  sleep.  The  shops  were  closed  and  the 
citizens  remained  indoors.  The  flags  were  hung  at 
half-mast  and  the  bells  tolled  dismally. 

But  at  night  the  silence  changed  to  noise.  The 
citizens  gathered  in  numbers.  They  broke  into  the 
stable  of  Lieutenant-Governor  Cadwallader  Colden 
and  dragged  out  his  coach  of  state.  In  it  they  put 
a  figure  made  of  sticks  and  rags  to  represent  the 
owner.  They  marched  the  streets,  shouting  as 
they  went,  and  finally  surrounded  the  fort.  The 
soldiers  were  drawn  up  on  the  ramparts  with  cannon 
and  gun  directed  toward  the  Bowling  Green.  But 
no  shots  were  fired.  The  rioters  being  denied  ad- 
mission to  the  fort,  into  which  they  were  anxious  to 
get  because  the  stamps  were  stored  there,  tore  down 
the  wooden  railing  around  the  Bowling  Green,  and, 
kindling  a  huge  fire,  burned  the  coach  and  the  figure 
in  it. 

As  the  flames  blazed  high,  the  fury  of  the  mob 
increased.     They  rushed  away  toward  Vauxhall   on 

[131J 


The  Story  of  Manhattan 


the  outskirts  of  the  town  (where  Greenwich  and 
Warren  Streets  now  cross).  Vauxhall  at  this  time 
was  occupied  by  a  major  of  the  British  army  named 
James.  He  had  said  that  the  stamps  ought  to  be 
crammed  down  the  throats  of  the  people  with  the 
point  of  a  sword.  In  revenge  for  this  his  house 
was  broken  into,  his  handsome  furniture,  his  pict- 
ures and  treasures  of  every  sort  dragged  out,  and 
kindled  into  a  bonfire  around  which  the  mob 
danced  and  howled. 

The  people  were  quite  determined  to  take  the  law 
into  their  own  hands  and  destroy  every  trace  of  the 
hated  stamps.  You  shall  know  presently  what  pre- 
vented them. 


[132] 


CHAPTER    XXI 


The    Beginning  of 
Revolution 


ON  the  morning  after  the  night  of  rioting — 
a  dark  and  dreary  day  that  was  quite  in 
keeping  with  the  gloomy  feelings  of  the 
people — Cadwallader  Colden,  the  Lieutenant-Gov- 
ernor, decided  that  he  would  do  away  with  the 
stamps  that  had  caused  so  much  trouble.  So  he 
had  them  delivered  to  the  Mayor,  who  was  in  ac- 
cord with  the  citizens,  and  the  Mayor  put  them 
in  the  City  Hall  amid  many  cheers.  A  few  days 
after  this  Sir  Henry  Moore  (who  had  been  ap- 
pointed Governor  of  the  province)  arrived  from 
England,  and  immediately  won  the  hearts  of  the 
citizens  by  saying  that  he  would  have  nothing  to 
do  with  the  stamps.  During  the  next  few  months 
excitement  in  New  York  and  in  the  other  colonies 
increased,  and  efforts  to  keep  the  stamps  in  use 
caused  riots  everywhere. 


The  Story  of  Manhattan 


When  the  King  saw  that  he  could  not  enforce 
the  Stamp  Act,  and  that  serious  trouble  was  likely 
to  occur  from  every  attempt  to  do  so,  he  repealed 
the  act,  the  year  after  it  had  become  a  law. 

The  people  were  overjoyed  at  this. 

The  King's  birthday  coming  soon  after,  there  was 
in  his  honor  a  great  celebration,  and  a  liberty  pole 
was  planted  on  the  Common,  which  in  after  years 
played  an  important  part  in  the  history  of  New 
York  ;  and  a  marble  statue  of  William  Pitt,  Earl 
of  Chatham,  was  erected.  This  William  Pitt  had 
done  more  than  any  other  man  in  England  to 
secure  the  repeal  of  the  Stamp  Act,  and  had  time 
and  time  again  spoken  strongly  against  it.  His 
statue  was  set  up  in  Wall  Street,  and  at  the  same 
time  a  statue  of  King  George  III.,  seated  upon  a 
horse,  was  erected  on  the  Bowling  Green.  It  fared 
ill  with  these  statues  later,  as  you  will  see. 

There  was  no  longer  a  stamp  act,  but  there  was 
another  act  quite  as  disagreeable.  It  was  called 
the  Mutiny  Bill,  and  it  required  that  food  and 
drink    and   sleeping  -  quarters   be   given   to  all   the 

[■34] 


The   Beginning  of  Revolution 


British  soldiers.  Now  the  Mutiny  Bill  fell  hardest 
upon  New  York,  for  New  York  was  the  head-quar- 
ters of  the  British  army  in  America.  The  people 
refused  to  comply  with  this  law,  because  they 
feared  that  it  was  the  first  step  toward  compelling 
them  to  support  a  great  army  in  America. 

So  the  soldiers  and  citizens  were  again  continu- 
ally at  odds. 

Four  years  after  the  Stamp  Act  was  repealed, 
during  which  time  affairs  were  in  a  most  unsettled 
state  and  the  bitter  feeling  between  the  colonists  and 
England  was  growing  stronger  with  each  passing 
day,  the  English  Parliament  declared  that  no  tax 
was  to  be  put  on  anything  except  tea.  Tea  was  to 
be  taxed,  not  so  much  for  the  money  that  would 
thus  go  to  the  King,  but  to  show  that  he  had  the 
right  to  tax  the  colonists.  This  did  not  settle  mat- 
ters in  the  least.  The  colonists  had  sworn  to  resist 
all  taxes,  and  to  have  a  tax  on  one  article  was  as 
bad,  to  their  minds,  as  having  taxes  on  all.  But 
the  merchants  were  not  prospering,  for,  not  import- 
ing goods  from  England,  they  had  none  to  sell.    So 

[135] 


The  Story  of  Manhattan 


a  committee  of  lOo  men  was  appointed  to  see  what 
could  be  done.  This  committee  decided  that  it 
would  be  right  for  the  merchants  to  import  every- 
thing they  needed  except  tea.  And  the  merchants 
welcomed  this  decision  and  agreed  to  it. 

But  the  fiery  Sons  of  Liberty  refused  to  listen  to 
any  such  compromise.  They  insisted  on  keeping 
the  non-importation  agreement  until  the  duty  on 
tea,  as  well  as  all  other  duties,  should  be  done 
away  with  once  and  for  all.  So  they  determined  to 
maintain  it  until  the  end,  and  they  did  maintain  it 
well.  Day  by  day  the  soldiers  of  King  George 
III.  and  the  citizens  became  greater  enemies. 
Although  the  soldiers  tried  many  times  to  drag 
down  the  liberty  pole,  it  was  well  defended,  and  it 
stood  until  one  night  in  January,  1770,  when  they 
tore  it  down  and  chopped  it  into  pieces.  This  act 
led  to  the  battle  of  Golden  Hill,  which  was  the 
first  real  battle  of  the  American  Revolution. 


[136] 


CHAPTER    XXII 


Fighting  the  Tax  on 

Tea 


ABIT  of  rising  ground,  not  a  great  way  from 
the  Common,  was  called  Golden  Hill. 
Here  there  was  an  inn.  To  this  day  the 
elevation  of  ground  can  be  seen  (where  John  Street 
crosses  William),  and  the  inn  still  stands.  While 
the  thought  of  the  wrecked  liberty  pole  was  still 
fresh  in  mind,  some  of  the  Sons  of  Liberty  came 
suddenly  upon  a  number  of  soldiers  close  by  this 
inn.  There  was  a  running  fight,  the  soldiers  using 
their  guns  and  cutlasses  and  the  others  beating 
them  back  with  staves  and  sticks.  More  soldiers 
came  and  the  fight  grew  in  fury.  Already  one  man 
had  received  his  death-blow  and  a  dozen  had  been 
injured,  when  several  ofBcers  came  galloping  up 
the  road  and  the  soldiers  were  ordered  back  to 
their  barracks.  This  was  the  battle  of  Golden 
Hill. 

[137] 


The  Story  of  Manhattan 


Very  often  after  this  the  soldiers  and  the  citizens 
clashed  and  sometimes  came  to  blows,  and  progress 
was  at  a  standstill  because  of  the  turbulence  of  the 
times.  Public  improvements  were  neglected  and 
very  little  business  was  carried  on. 

In  the  third  year  after  the  battle  of  Golden  Hill, 
the  British  Government  decided  to  make  the  colo- 
nists buy  tea  whether  they  wanted  to  or  not.  So 
the  price  was  put  down  until  tea  could  be  bought 
in  New  York  cheaper  than  it  could  be  bought 
in  England.  This  did  no  good,  for  though  the 
tea  was  cheap  the  tax  was  on  it  and  it  was  the 
tax  and  not  the  price  of  which  the  people  com- 
plained. The  Sons  of  Liberty,  when  they  heard 
that  ships  loaded  with  cheap  tea  were  on  the  way 
from  England,  said  they  would  not  even  permit  it 
to  be  landed.  The  first  ship  in  port  was  under  the 
command  of  a  captain  named  Lockyer,  who,  when 
he  learned  of  the  strong  efforts  made  to  prevent  the 
landing  of  the  tea,  determined  to  return  to  England 
with  his  cargo.  He  anchored  his  ship  in  the  bay 
and  came  in  a  small  boat  to  the  city.     The  people, 

[■3«J 


Fighting  the  Tax  on  Tea 


joyful  over  his  decision,  decided  to  give  him  a 
public  leave-taking. 

Within  a  few  days  another  ship  sailed  into  the 
bay,  commanded  by  Captain  Chambers,  who  in- 
sisted that  he  had  no  tea  on  board.  When  told 
that  his  vessel  would  be  searched,  he  admitted  that 
he  had  a  few  chests.  That  same  night  the  citizens 
who  had  all  day  thronged  the  wharf,  suddenly 
swarmed  aboard  the  vessel.  The  hatches  were 
ripped  up,  and  the  eighteen  chests  of  tea  hauled  on 
deck.  There  they  were  torn  into  pieces  and  the 
contents  scattered  into  the  river.  Having  done  this 
the  crowds  dispersed  and  all  was  quiet  again. 

Next  day  came  the  public  leave-taking  of  Cap- 
tain Lockyer.  He  had  spent  the  night  at  the 
coffee-house  in  Wall  Street,  and  here,  early  in  the 
morning,  there  was  a  great  assembly.  The  bells 
of  the  city  chimed  merrily ;  flags  floated  from  the 
houses,  and  the  ships  in  the  bay  were  decorated  with 
gay  colors. 

From  the  balcony  of  the  coflTee-house  the  Cap- 
tain   bowed  while    the    crowds    cheered    him.     Fi- 

[139] 


The  Story  of  Manhattan 


nally 
Wall 
which 


a  committee  escorted  him  to  the  foot  of 
Street,  where  he  embarked  In  a  pilot-boat 
took  him  to  his  ship.     Another  committee, 


Ferry- House  on   East   River ^   1 7 46,  from  an   Old  Print. 

with  far  less  ceremony,  escorted  Captain  Cham- 
bers to  the  same  boat,  and  the  two  captains  sailed 
away. 

Even   before  this   had   happened  in   New  York, 
the  citizens  of  Boston  had  dumped  a  cargo  of  tea 

[140] 


Fighting  the  Tax  on  Tea 


into  their  harbor,  and  the  British  Parliament  had 
closed  the  port  of  Boston ;  which  meant  that  no 
ships  were  permitted  to  sail  In  or  out  of  it.  By 
this  it  was  hoped  to  stop  all  business  in  Boston, 
and  really  it  did  put  an  end  to  a  great  part  of  it. 
And  General  Thomas  Gage,  who  now  had  charge 
of  the  British  troops  in  America,  undertook  to 
see  that  the  orders  of  the  King  were  properly  en- 
forced. 

This  closing  of  the  port  of  Boston  aroused  the 
thirteen  British  colonies  in  America.  After  a  great 
deal  of  letter-writing  it  was  decided  to  have  men 
from  each  of  these  colonies  meet  and  talk  matters 
over.  In  September  of  this  year  (1774)  they  met 
in  Philadelphia.  At  this  meeting,  which  was  called 
the  First  Continental  Congress,  it  was  decided  that 
laws  were  made  in  England  that  were  unjust  to 
America,  that  the  colonists  objected  to  taxes  that 
were  fixed  by  Parliament  and  would  buy  no  more 
goods  from  England  while  a  tax  was  upon  them  ; 
and  that  they  objected  to  the  support  of  a  large 
British  army  in  the  colonies. 

[HI] 


The  Story  of  Manhattan 


And  this  First  Continental  Congress  sent  a  peti- 
tion to  King  George  III.,  saying  that  the  unjust 
laws  should  be  done  away  with. 

How  the  King  received  this  petition  is  soon 
told. 


[«4^] 


CHAPTER    XXIII 


The  Sons  of  Liberty  at 
Turtle  Bay 


NOW  in  New  York  almost  everybody  was 
anxious  to  carry  out  the  decision  of  this 
First  Continental  Congress. 

But  the  Assembly  said  that  the  Congress  had 
not  been  a  lawful  gathering  and  must  not  be 
obeyed.  The  colonists  replied  that  they  would  do 
as  they  thought  best,  no  matter  what  the  King's 
Assembly  ordered. 

You  must  know  that  some  of  the  people  sup- 
ported the  royal  cause  and  were  called  Royalists  or 
Tories.  The  others  were  called  Patriots  or  Whigs. 
The  English  called  the  patriots  rebels. 

It  had  now  come  to  be  the  year  1775,  and  mat- 
ters in  Boston  where  the  port  had  been  closed  were 
growing  worse  and  worse.  In  the  month  of  April 
some  British  soldiers  passing  through  Lexington 
shot  down  a  number  of  patriots.      Messengers  on 

[143J 


The  Story  of  Manhattan 


horseback  sped  through  the  colonies  carrying  news 
of  this  massacre.  It  was  the  first  serious  encounter 
of  the  Revolution  and  the  colonists  realized  that 
they  were  now  at  war  with  the  British.  Men  rushed 
to  arms.  Farmers  left  their  homes.  Professional 
men  hurried  from  the  towns.  Within  a  few  days 
an  army  surrounded  Boston  and  penned  in  the 
British  troops  there. 

When  the  messenger  reached  New  York  with 
the  news  of  the  Lexington  massacre,  a  Provisional 
Assembly  was  formed  which  was  to  look  after  the 
city  without  regard  to  the  Assembly  which  already 
existed.  And  this  is  the  way  it  came  about  that 
there  was  a  king*s  government  and  a  people's 
government.  Shops  were  closed  and  armed  citi- 
zens paraded  the  streets.  Matters  went  on  in  this 
fashion  for  a  month,  when  a  Second  Continental 
Congress  met  at  Philadelphia. 

As  it  was  now  seen  that  there  was  to  be  a  serious 
conflict  with  Great  Britain,  the  army  gathered  about 
Boston  was  adopted  as  the  beginning  of  the  forces 
to  be  assembled  and  was   termed  the   Continental 

[144] 


The   Sons  of  Liberty  at  Turtle   Bay 


Army,   and    George    Washington    was    appointed 
commander-in-chief. 

Knowing  that  they  would  soon  need  guns  and 
powder,  the  Sons  of  Liberty  seized  those  held  by 
the  royal  troops  in  New  York.     There  was  quite  a 


East   River   Shores   ly^Oy  from  an   Old  Print, 

quantity  in  a  storehouse  at  Turtle  Bay,  a  quiet 
little  cove  three  miles  above  the  town,  that  curved 
into  a  wild  and  rocky  part  of  the  East  River  shore. 
Nowadays  the  city  extends  for  miles  and  miles 
above  it.     If  you  go  to   Forty-ninth  Street  and  the 

[H5] 


The  Story  of  Manhattan 


East  River  you  will  see  all  that  remains  of  it.  Al- 
though the  houses  are  built  thick  about  it,  there  is 
still  an  air  of  seclusion.  Everywhere  else  along 
the  shore  are  piers  and  bath-houses  and  wharves 
and  ships  and  shipping. 

So  at  this  Turtle  Bay,  far  from  the  town,  the 
royal  troops  had  a  storehouse  for  their  arms.  A 
small  band  of  the  Sons  of  Liberty,  one  dark  night, 
floated  down  the  river,  guided  their  vessel  into  the 
bay,  overpowered  the  guards  before  they  were  fairly 
aroused,  and  loaded  their  boat  with  the  enemy's 
powder  and  guns.  Then  they  made  off,  and  be- 
fore the  morning  dawned  had  placed  the  stores  safe 
in  the  hands  of  the  patriots. 

Then  the  War  of  the  Revolution  broke  in  full 
fury. 


[.46] 


CHAPTER    XXIV 


The  War  of  the  Revo 

LUTION 


IN  this  month  of  June,  in  the  year  1775,  there 
were  quite  a  number  of  British  soldiers  in  the 
city,  and  many  of  the  patriots  beheved  that 
they  should  be  made  prisoners.  But  the  Provi- 
sional Assembly  decreed  that  the  orders  of  the  Sec- 
ond Continental  Congress  must  be  obeyed.  And 
these  orders  were  not  to  molest  the  soldiers  as 
long  as  they  did  not  try  to  build  fortifications  or 
remove  powder  and  guns  from  the  city. 

But  early  in  this  month  of  June  it  was  learned 
that  the  soldiers  were  about  to  go  to  Boston. 
More  than  that,  it  was  known  that  there  was  a 
secret  order  under  which  they  were  to  take  guns 
and  powder  with  them. 

The  Sons  of  Liberty  were  hastily  called  to  a 
meeting.  One  of  them,  Marinus  Willett,  was 
hurrying  through  Broad  Street  toward  the  Coffee- 

[H7] 


The   Story  of  Manhattan 


House  where  the  meeting  was  to  be  held,  when  he 
came  upon  the  soldiers  moving  silently  along  with 
five  carts  loaded  with  chests  of  arms.  Alone,  and 
without  an  instant's  hesitation,  Willett  clutched  at 
the  bridle  of  the  first  horse.  The  company  stopped. 
There  was  an  angry  parley,  the  officers  claim- 
ing the  right  to  leave  the  city  with  the  arms,  and 
making  an  effort  to  do  so  without  raising  a  general 
alarm.  But  friends  of  Willett  came  to  his  assist- 
ance. The  five  carts  were  driven  away  by  the 
patriots  and  the  soldiers  went  on  but  without  the 
arms.  Long  years  afterward  a  bronze  tablet  was 
placed  on  a  house  in  Broad  Street  close  by  Beaver 
(and  is  there  now),  to  mark  the  spot  where  the 
brave  Willett  stopped  the  ammunition  wagons. 

In  this  same  month  a  battle  was  fought  between 
the  British  army  in  Boston  and  the  Continental 
army  which  was  encamped  outside  of  Boston.  It 
was  fought  on  a  bit  of  high  ground  near  the  city, 
and  was  called  the  Battle  of  Bunker  Hill. 

Just  at  this  time  word  came  that  General  George 
Washington,  the    newly  appointed   commander-in- 

[148] 


The  War  of  the  Revolution 


chief,  was  on  his  way  from  Philadelphia  to  the  Con- 
tinental army,  and  would  pass  through  New  York 
City.  Washington  with  his  aides  and  a  company 
of  soldiers  were  hurrying  across  New  Jersey  on 
horseback,  and  when  they  reached  the  city  they 
were  met  by  a  committee  from  the  Provisional 
Assembly,  with  a  number  of  patriot  soldiers. 

The  next  morning  Washington  set  out  for  Bos- 
ton. He  had  not  yet  left  the  town  when  a  ship 
appeared  in  the  bay  having  on  board  Governor 
William  Tryon,  who  had  been  visiting  in  England 
for  nearly  a  year.  Governor  Tryon  did  not  remain 
long  in  the  city  though,  as  it  was  not  a  comfortable 
place  for  a  royal  Governor  just  then.  He  hurriedly 
left  one  night  and  went  aboard  one  of  the  British 
ships  in  the  bay. 

At  the  close  of  this  year  Washington  was  still 
before  Boston  with  the  Continental  army.  An- 
other section  of  the  army  was  in  the  North,  fighting 
against  the  British  in  Canada.  This  last  branch 
was  encamped  about  the  walls  of  Quebec  in  the  last 
month  of  the  year.     It  was  under  the  command  of 

[149] 


The  Story  of  Manhattan 


General  Richard  Montgomery,  of  New  York,  a 
brilliant  soldier  who  had  fought  in  the  French  and 
Indian  wars.  Quebec  was  stormed,  but  was  too 
strong  to  be  taken.  Montgomery  fell  crying, 
"  Men  of  New  York,  you  will  not  fear  to  follow 
where  your  general  leads."  He  was  buried  with 
military  honors  in  Quebec,  for  the  British  honored 
him  as  a  brave  man.  Forty-three  years  later  his 
remains  were  removed  to  New  York,  and  placed 
beneath  the  portico  of  St.  Paul's  Chapel,  where  his 
tomb  may  now  be  seen. 

Fighting  by  the  side  of  Montgomery  when  he 
fell  was  a  youth  who  was  singled  out  for  his  brav- 
ery. His  name  was  Aaron  Burr.  You  are  to  hear 
more  of  him,  for  many  and  many  a  time  in  after 
years  the  eyes  of  the  entire  country  were  turned 
upon  him. 


['SO] 


CHAPTER    XXV 


A  Battle  on  Long 
Island 


AND  now,  early  in  the  next  spring,  George 
Washington  came  again  to  New  York, 
having  at  last  forced  the  British  troops 
from  Boston.  The  city,  which  was  under  the  con- 
trol of  the  patriots,  was  in  a  state  of  excitement,  as 
it  seemed  probable  that  this  was  to  be  the  next 
point  of  attack.  Every  person  who  favored  the 
cause  of  the  King,  or  who  was  suspected  of  favoring 
it,  was  looked  upon  with  distrust.  One-third  of 
the  citizens  had  fled.  The  soldiers  of  the  Conti- 
nental army  were  arriving  daily.  Women  and  chil- 
dren were  rarely  seen  upon  the  streets.  Many  of 
the  royalists'  houses,  which  had  been  closed  when 
their  owners  fled,  were  broken  open  to  give  sleeping 
quarters  to  the  soldiers. 

At  the  outbreak  of  the  war  the  people's  grievance 
had   been   simply   taxation    without  representation, 

[ISO 


The  Story  of  Manhattan 


but  by  this  time  the  desire  for  complete  independ- 
ence had  taken  fast  hold  of  them.  This  feeling 
swept  through  the  colonies,  and  when  the  Con- 
tinental Congress  met  in  June  of  this  year,  it  voted 
that  the  united  colonies  should  be  free  and  inde- 
pendent States  and  have  no  further  political  connec- 
tion with  Great  Britain.  A  declaration  of  independ- 
ence was  adopted  on  July  4th,  and  the  British 
colonies  became  the  United  States  of  America. 

A  horseman  brought  the  news  to  New  York,  and 
there  was  great  rejoicing.  The  soldiers  of  the  new 
Union  then  in  the  city  were  ordered  to  the  Com- 
mon, and  there,  early  in  the  evening,  standing  in  a 
hollow  square — close  by  where  the  City  Hall  is 
now — and  surrounded  by  a  great  concourse  of  peo- 
ple, Washington  read  the  address  that  proclaimed 
the  birth  of  a  free  and  independent  nation. 

Following  the  reading  the  great  throng  applauded 
and  then,  filled  with  enthusiasm,  rushed  away.  At 
the  City  Hall  in  Wall  Street  they  tore  down  the 
painting  of  King  George  111.  and  trampled  it  under 
foot.     On  again  they  went  to  the  Bowling  Green, 


A  Battle  on  Long  Island 


and  there  they  dragged  down  the  statue  of  the  same 
royal  person  which  had  been  erected  only  a  few 
years  before.  The  scattered  fragments  of  the 
leaden  statue  were  afterward  gathered  up  and 
moulded  into  bullets. 

This  same  month  General  William  Howe,  com- 
mander of  the  British  army,  had  landed  on  Staten 
Island,  with  his  brother,  Admiral  Howe  of  the 
British  navy,  and  with  the  soldiers  and  sailors  of 
their  commands,  made  up  a  fine,  well-drilled  army 
of  35,000  men,  who  had  come  to  fight  a  force  of 
20,000  recruits ;  men  not  at  all  well-versed  In  war, 
and  nearly  half  of  whom  were  ill  and  not  able  to  be 
on  duty. 

But  Washington  calmly  watched  the  British  on 
Staten  Island,  and  the  British  ships,  more  than 
400  of  them.  In  the  bay,  and  was  not  at  all  dis- 
mayed. Once  General  Howe  wrote  to  Washington 
suggesting  measures  that  would  lead  to  peace,  but 
nothing  came  of  it. 

Late  in  the  month  of  August  the  fighting  com- 
menced.    General    Howe   led   his   forces   to    Long 

[1J3J 


The   Story  of  Manhattan 


Island — led  21,000  men,  for  he  thought  that  the 
best  way  to  capture  New  York  was  to  first  vanquish 
the  army  on  Long  Island  by  an  overwhelming 
force.  Then  the  subduing  of  the  city  across  the 
river  would  be  easy. 

Washington  hurried  what  men  he  could  across 
to  Long  Island  to  assist  those  already  there.  But 
even  then  the  Americans  were  outnumbered  as  two 
to  one.  The  patriots  fought  long  and  well,  but 
they  were  defeated.  Two  hundred  or  more  were 
killed,  and  three  times  as  many,  including  three 
generals,  were  made  prisoners.  But  more  than  300 
of  the  British  were  also  killed. 

The  day  after  the  battle,  the  American  army  was 
in  Brooklyn,  penned  in  on  the  land  side  by  the 
British  troops  and  on  the  other  by  the  wide,  swift- 
running  river.  It  was  raining  in  torrents.  Wash- 
ington was  there.  He  planned  a  retreat  that  was 
to  save  his  army.  All  the  boats  to  be  found  along 
the  shores  of  the  Island  of  Manhattan  were  taken 
to  Brooklyn  in  the  dead  of  night.  Silently  the 
soldiers  were  put  aboard,  so  silently  that,  although 

[154] 


A  Battle  on  Long  Island 


the  British  were  almost  within  speaking  distance,  no 
sound  of  the  departing  army  reached  them.  The 
point  where  they  embarked  was  close  by  where  the 
East  River  Bridge  now  touches  the  Brooklyn  shore. 
It  was  daylight  before  the  last  of  the  troops  got 
aboard,  but  a  heavy  fog  shielded  them  as  well  as 
had  the  darkness. 

When  the  sun  swept  the  fog  away,  General  Howe 
gazed  in  wonder  at  the  spot  where  the  American 
forces  had  been  the  night  before.  But  they  were 
gone,  with  the  swiftness  and  silence  of  magic ! 
The  magician  was  Washington,  who  had  not  slept 
from  the  hour  of  defeat  until  his  men  were  safe 
again  in  New  York.  But  they  were  not  to  remain 
there  long,  as  more  exciting  work  was  before  them. 


[I5J] 


CHAPTER    XXVI 


The  British   Occupy 
New  York 


MILES  and  miles  above  the  little  city  of 
New  York,  on  a  road  which  led  up 
through  the  Island  of  Manhattan,  there 
was  a  stately  house  in  a  stretch  of  country  and 
forest  land  overlooking  the  Hudson  River.  This 
was  the  house  of  Charles  Ward  Apthorpe  and 
was  known  as  the  Apthorpe  mansion.  Here  Gen- 
eral Washington  went  after  the  retreat  from  Long 
Island,  to  devise  a  plan  for  the  battles  that  were  to 
come. 

The  city  was  well  fortified,  but  Washington 
understood  full  well  that  it  could  not  be  held  long 
against  a  British  attack.  For  the  British  soldiers 
were  already  on  the  islands  of  the  East  River,  and 
the  British  ships  held  possession  of  the  harbor  and 
of  both  rivers.  So  Washington  sent  the  main  body 
of  his  army  to  Harlem  Heights  at  the  northern  end 

[•56J 


The   British   Occupy   New  York 


of  the  Island  of  Manhattan,  and  left  only  a  force 
of  4,000  men,  under  General  Putnam,  in  New 
York. 

Washington  desiring  to  learn  the  plans  of  the 
enemy,  called  for  someone  who  would  be  willing  to 
go  into  the  British  lines.  This  was  a  dangerous 
undertaking,  for  capture  meant  certain  death.  But 
there  was  a  young  officer  who  was  anxious  to  un- 
dertake the  mission,  and  the  arrangements  were 
made.  This  was  Nathan  Hale.  In  disguise  he 
made  his  way,  learned  the  number  of  the  enemy, 
and  learned,  too,  all  about  the  plan  of  attack. 
With  this  information  he  was  hurrying  back  to 
General  Washington,  when  he  was  recognized  as 
belonging  to  the  American  army,  and  was  arrested. 
In  a  few  days,  when  he  was  tried,  he  freely  admitted 
that  he  had  acted  as  Washington's  spy.  He  died 
as  he  had  lived — bravely.  A  moment  before  he 
was  hanged  he  was  asked  if  he  wished  to  say  any 
word.  "  Yes,'"'  he  answered ;  and  looking  firmly 
into  the  faces  of  those  who  stood  about  him,  "  I 
only  regret  that  I  have  but  one  life  to  lose  for  my 

[•57] 


The   Story  of  Manhattan 


country.'*  No  wonder  that  the  memory  of  the 
Martyr  Spy  has  Hved  through  the  passing  years  ! 

Sixteen  days  after  Washington  and  his  men  re- 
treated from  Long  Island,  the  British  sailed  up  the 
East  River  and  anchored  opposite  a  little  inlet 
called  Kip's  Bay  (at  the  foot  of  what  is  now  Thirty- 
sixth  Street).  They  fired  upon  those  who  defended 
the  bay,  and  under  cover  of  this  fire  landed ;  and 
the  American  soldiers  scurried  away  up  the  island 
toward  the  north. 

General  Howe  led  his  men  on  for  half  a  mile, 
until  they  reached  a  large  country  house.  This  was 
the  home,  and  all  about  it  was  the  farm,  of  a  family 
named  Murray  (who  gave  their  name  to  Murray 
Hill).  These  Murrays  were  friendly  to  the  patriots, 
but  they  were  also  well  acquainted  with  Governor 
Tryon,  who  was  with  the  British  army.  So  the 
army  rested  close  by  the  house,  and  Howe,  Tryon, 
and  the  other  officers  were  given  a  fine  dinner  by 
Mrs.  Murray. 

Now  although  the  Americans  had  retreated  north 
up  the  island  from  Kip's   Bay,  and  were   safely  on 

[158] 


Mrs.   Murray's  Dinner  to  British  Officers, 


The   British   Occupy   New  York 


their  way  to  the  main  army  on  Harlem  Heights, 
you  must  remember  there  were  4,000  soldiers  still 
in  the  city.  So  the  British  were  in  the  centre  of 
the  island  with  a  very  large  force ;  the  main  body 
of  the  Americans  was  to  the  north  ;  while  to  the 
south  was  this  little  band  of  4,000,  far  away  from 
their  army  and  in  a  position  to  be  trapped  by  the 
British.  Had  the  British  officers  at  once  decided 
to  stretch  their  men  across  the  island,  the  4,000 
would  have  been  penned  up  on  the  lower  part  and 
would  have  been  made  prisoners.  It  therefore 
seemed  to  Putnam's  men  that  there  was  but  one 
way  for  them  to  escape  capture,  and  that  was  by 
slipping  past  the  British  who  rested  at  Murray 
house  and  joining  the  main  army  on  Harlem 
Heights. 

The  Murrays  understood  the  condition  of  af- 
fairs, so  they  were  particularly  cordial  to  their 
British  guests  and  detained  them  as  long  as  they 
could  at  dinner.  They  were  still  feasting  when 
General  Putnam  started  his  4,000  men  marching 
toward  the  north. 

[161] 


The   Story  of  Manhattan 


He  galloped  far  in  advance,  for  the  country  was 
rough  and  his  soldiers  could  walk  but  slowly.  He 
galloped  north,  and  Washington,  hanging  to  the 
rear  of  the  retreating  troops   from   Kip's   Bay,  the 


Hozve^ s  Head-QuarterSy   Beekman   House, 

generals  met  where  two  roads  crossed,  close  by 
where  Broadway  now  crosses  Forty-third  Street. 
Washington  instructed  Putnam  to  hurry  his  4,000 
on  before  they  were  irretrievably  cut  off  from  the 
main  army.     They  did  hurry  on.     They  drew  near 

[162] 


The   British   Occupy  New   York 


the  Murray  house  ;  they  formed  a  Une  two  miles 
long  that  moved  silently  over  the  road  that  led 
them  to  within  half  a  mile  of  where  the  British 
soldiers  were  feasting.  The  line  passed  this  point. 
Scarcely  had  the  last  man  gone  by  when  the  British 
were  on  the  move,  half  an  hour  too  late  for  the 
capture  of  4,000  prisoners. 

Now  the  American  forces  were  all  together  in 
a  solid  mass,  moving  toward  the  upper  end  of  the 
island ;  plodding  through  pouring  rain,  almost 
dropping  from  the  exhaustion  of  their  long  march — 
but  safe. 

This  same  night  a  division  of  the  British  soldiers 
occupied  New  York.  The  others,  close  on  the 
heels  of  the  American  army,  waited  for  the  morn- 
ing. 


[163] 


CHAPTER    XXVII 


The  Battle  of  Harlem 
Heights 


WHEN  the  sun  rose  next  morning  (it  was 
September    i6th),  the    American  army 
and  the  British  army  lay  encamped  each 
on  a  highland  close   beside  one  another  separated 
by  a  valley. 

The  ground  occupied  by  the  British  soldiers  was 
then  Vandewater  Heights.  Much  of  this  high 
ground  still  remains  and  is  now  called  Columbia 
Heights,  and  Columbia  University  and  Grant's 
Tomb  are  upon  it.  The  American  forces  were 
scattered  over  what  was  then  Harlem  Heights,  as 
far  as  Washington's  head-quarters  in  the  country 
mansion  overlooking  the  Harlem  River  above 
Harlem  Plains.  It  was  the  house  of  Roger  Morris, 
a  royalist  who  had  fled  at  the  approach  of  the 
American  soldiers,  and  it  still  stands  at  i6oth  Street 
close  by  St   Nicholas  Avenue.     On  the  heights  and 

[164J 


h 


^ 


""^ 
^ 


The   Story  of  Manhattan 


in  the  valley  a  battle  was  fought,  beginning  with  a 
light  engagement  quite  early  in  the  day,  with  more 
and  more  men  of  both  armies  gradually  joining  in 
until  there  were  5,000  Americans  against  6,000 
British,  with  several  thousand  of  each  side  held  in 
reserve. 

The  battle  ended  in  the  afternoon  with  the  de- 
feat of  the  British,  who  lost  200  of  their  number 

This  was  a  great  victory  for  the  Americans,  who 
fought  against  superior  numbers — great  because  the 
men  had  lost  heart  after  the  defeat  on  Long  Island, 
and  the  forced  retreat  from  the  city.  There  was 
sorrow  for  the  dead,  for  even  victories  have  a  sad 
side.  Every  one  of  the  100  American  soldiers 
who  were  killed  that  day  were  brave  men,  and  though 
all  their  names  are  not  written  m  history,  the  manner 
of  their  death  urged  on  their  companions  in  the  days 
that  followed. 


[166] 


CHAPTER    XXVIII 

The   British    Fail  to 

Sweep  Everything 

Before  Them 


ON  the  fourth  day  after  the  battle  of  Harlem 
Heights  the  soldiers  of  England  were 
making  themselves  comfortable  in  New 
York  when  a  great  fire  broke  out.  It  swept  over 
the  city  and  500  houses  crumbled  and  fell  in  ashes 
before  it  was  controlled.  Almost  the  entire  western 
part  of  the  city  was  consumed,  St.  Paul's  Chapel  be- 
ing the  only  building  of  importance  that  was  saved. 
Almost  all  who  favored  the  American  cause  had 
fled.  But  a  few  remained,  and  there  was  a  hint 
that  these  had  started  the  fire.  The  British  soldiers 
were  angered  when  they  saw  the  city  they  had  just 
entered  burning,  and  while  the  flames  roared  and 
the  houses  fell  they  rushed  about  and  in  their  rage 
dashed  out  the  brains  of  the  citizens  who  sought  to 

[167] 


The  Story  of  Manhattan 


beat  back  the  flames  from  their  homes.  But  it  was 
afterward  learned  that  the  fire  had  started  in  quite 
an  accidental  manner. 

A  little  while  after  this  General  Howe  moved 
with  the  greater  part  of  the  British  army  up  the 
East  River,  and  sailing  on  past  the  Island  of  Man- 
hattan, landed  on  the  mainland  beyond  in  West- 
chester. In  this  way  the  British  were  in  the  rear  of 
the  Americans,  and  within  a  few  days  the  two 
armies  coming  together  a  battle  was  fought,  in 
which  the  Americans  were  defeated.  Washington 
and  his  men  then  retreated  into  New  Jersey. 

General  Howe  next  attacked  Fort  Washington, 
a  high  and  rocky  point  on  the  banks  of  the  Hud- 
son River  (on  a  line  with  the  present  178th  Street). 
There  were  3,000  men  here,  all  the  American  sol- 
diers who  were  now  on  the  island,  and  they  held 
such  a  high  and  well-fortified  position  that  they 
thought  themselves  quite  safe.  They  doubtless 
would  have  been  had  not  one  of  their  number, 
William  Demont,  turned  traitor.  He  told  the 
British  just   how  many    men    there   were,  and  just 

[,68] 


The   Story  of  Manhattan 


how  the  fortress  should  be  attacked.  And  the 
British  stormed  the  fort  as  the  traitor  directed,  and 
took  it,  and  every  one  of  the  soldiers  who  had  not 
been  killed  was  made  prisoner.  This  ended  the 
actual  fight  for  liberty  in  New  York. 

But  outside  of  New  York  the  war  went  bravely 
on.  Washington  in  New  Jersey  kept  up  the  fight, 
but  the  winter  came  on  and  his  army  suffered  ex- 
ceedingly. It  had  come  to  be  a  very  small  army 
by  this  time,  for  they  were  poorly  fed  and  ill 
clothed  and  seldom  had  any  sort  of  shelter.  Nev- 
ertheless, Washington  gained  many  victories  in 
New  Jersey  and  manoeuvred  his  little  army  so 
well  that  the  whole  world,  hearing  of  his  achieve- 
ments, was  forced  to  recognize  him  as  a  great  gen- 
eral. 

New  York  was  the  head-quarters  of  the  British 
army  in  America,  and  the  residence  of  its  chief 
officers.  The  city  was  as  thoroughly  British  as  it 
had  before  been  American,  and  it  was  as  much  as 
life  was  worth  even  to  hint  of  an  interest  in  the 
American  cause. 

[170] 


The  British   Failure 


Early  in  the  next  year,  1777,  those  who  had  the 
making  of  the  laws  for  the  new  State  of  New  York, 
met  in  secret,  and  chose  George  Clinton  as  their 
first  Governor.  The  other  colonies  had  formed 
themselves  into  States,  and  the  new  nation  grew 
stronger  day  by  day. 

Commissioners  were  sent  to  the  European  courts 
to  ask  aid  for  the  United  States.  Many  young 
French  noblemen,  thrilled  at  the  idea  of  fighting  for 
liberty,  came  to  America  as  volunteers,  and  by  their 
knowledge  of  war  gave  valuable  assistance  to  the 
American  officers.  The  name  of  the  Marquis  de 
Lafayette  stands  out  prominently  as  the  chief  of 
these  volunteers.  He  was  not  yet  twenty  years 
old,  but  fitted  out  a  vessel  at  his  own  expense  and 
crossed  the  ocean  to  offer  his  services.  He  asked 
to  be  enlisted  as  a  volunteer  and  to  serve  without 
pay,  but  he  was  soon  appointed  a  major-general. 

When  it  had  come  to  be  July  of  this  year,  there 
was  some  fighting  in  the  North,  for  the  British 
General  Burgoyne  came  down  from  Canada.  He 
intended  to  meet    the    army    under    Howe    which 


The  Story  of  Manhattan 


was  marching  northward,  and  the  two  armies 
were  to  sweep  everything  before  them.  Burgoyne 
defeated  the  Americans  led  by  General  Philip 
Schuyler,  in  several  battles.  Just  at  this  time  Gen- 
eral Schuyler*s  command  was  given  to  General 
Gates.  Now  Gates  followed  the  plans  that  had 
been  made  by  Schuyler,  with  the  result  that  Bur- 
goyne and  his  entire  force  of  6,000  men  surren- 
dered at  Saratoga.  This  settled  one  branch  of  the 
British  army.  The  other  branch,  under  General 
Howe,  took  possession  of  Philadelphia,  but  the 
defeat  of  Burgoyne  at  Saratoga  put  an  end  to  their 
hopes  of  sweeping  everything  before  them. 

In  the  last  month  of  the  year,  Washington  and 
his  army  took  up  winter  quarters  at  Valley  Forge 
so  as  to  keep  a  close  watch  upon  the  British  in 
Philadelphia. 


[172] 


CHAPTER     XXIX 


New  York  a  Prison 
House 


THE    winter   passed,  and  when    the   spring 
came  the  British  army  moved  from  Phila- 
delphia to  New  York  City,  but  not  with- 
out great   trouble,  for  Washington's  army  fought 
them  every  step  of  the  way  across  New  Jersey. 

The  city  was  now  quite  different  from  the  flour- 
ishing town  it  had  been  before  the  war.  Held  pos- 
session of  by  the  British,  it  was  a  military  camp. 
No  improvements  were  made.  Many  of  the  citi- 
zens who  were  loyal  to  the  American  cause  had 
fled.  Those  who  were  too  poor  to  leave  pretended 
to  favor  the  British,  but  as  little  business  could  be 
done,  they  could  find  no  work,  and  their  condition 
became  worse  daily.  Thousands  of  American 
prisoners  were  brought  here,  making  it  a  British 
prison-house,  and  every  building  of  any  size  was  a 
guard-house,  every  cellar  a  dungeon. 

[173] 


The  Story  of  Manhattan 


One  of  the  gloomiest  of  these  prisons  was  an 
old  sugar -house  close  by  the  Middle  Dutch 
Church.  It  was  built  in  the  days  of  Jacob  Leisler, 
with  thick  stone  walls  five  stories  high,  pierced  with 
small  windows.     The  ceilings  were  so  low  and  x\\^ 


to^^cTa^*''^  ■• 


Old  Sugar-House  in   Liberty   Street^   the  Prison-House  of  the 
Revolution. 

windows  so  small  that  the  air  could  scarcely  find 
entrance.  Underneath  was  a  black  and  dismal  cel- 
lar. The  pale  and  shrunken  faces  of  prisoners 
filled  the  openings  at  the  windows  by  day  and  by 
night,  seeking    a    breath    of  air.       They    were    so 

[174J 


New   York   a  Prison-House 


jammed  together  that  there  was  by  no  means  room 
at  the  windows  for  all.  So  these  wretched  men 
divided  themselves  into  groups,  each  group  crowd- 
ing close  to  the  windows  for  ten  minutes,  then  giv- 
ing place  to  another  group.  They  slept  on  straw 
that  was  never  changed,  and  the  food  given  them 
was  scarcely  enough  to  keep  them  alive.  Those 
who  suffered  this  living  death  might  have  been  free 
at  any  time  had  they  been  willing  to  go  over  to  the 
British,  but  few  of  the  patriots,  even  in  this  dread 
hour,  deserted  their  cause.  To  while  away  the 
hours  of  their  captivity,  they  carved  their  names 
upon  the  walls  with  rusty  nails.  Fevers  raged  con- 
stantly and  they  died  by  scores,  leaving  their  half- 
finished  initials  on  the  walls  as  their  only  relics. 
Their  bodies  were  thrown  out  of  doors,  and  every 
morning  gathered  up  in  carts  and  carried  to  the 
outskirts  of  the  city  to  be  buried  in  a  trench  with- 
out ceremony. 

This  was  only  one  of  a  dozen  such  prison-houses. 
There  was  one  other  that,  if  anything,  was  worse. 
It  was  the  New  Jail,  and  it  still  stands  in  City  Hall 

[175] 


The   Story  of  Manhattan 


Park  and  is  now  the  Hall  of  Records.  During  the 
war  it  was  known  as  The  Provost,  because  it  was 
the  head-quarters  of  a  provost-marshal  named  Cun- 
ningham. It  was  his  custom  at  the  conclusion  of 
his  drunken  revels  to  parade  his  weak,  ill,  half-fed 
prisoners  before  his  guests,  as  fine  specimens  of  the 
rebel  army.  It  is  said  of  him,  too,  that  he  poisoned 
those  who  died  too  slowly  of  cold  and  starvation, 
and  then  went  right  on  drawing  money  to  feed 
them.  This  gave  rise  to  the  saying  that  he  starved 
the  living  and  fed  the  dead.  He  took  a  great  delight 
in  being  as  cruel  and  merciless  as  he  could,  and  very 
often  boasted  that  he  had  caused  the  death  of  more 
rebels  than  had  been  killed  by  all  of  the  King's  forces. 
Many  American  sailors  were  also  captured  (for 
the  Revolution  was  fought  on  the  sea  as  well  as  on 
land)  and  all  these  were  placed  aboard  prison-ships — 
useless  hulks,  worn-out  freight-boats,  and  abandoned 
men-of-war.  For  a  time  these  hulks  were  anchored 
close  by  the  Battery,  but  afterward  they  were  taken 
to  the  Brooklyn  shore.  There  was  misery  and  suf- 
fering on  all  of  them,  but  the  worst  was  called  the 

[.763 


New  York  a  Prison-House 


"  Jersey,"  where  captives  were  crowded  into  the 
hold,  the  sick  and  the  well,  poorly  fed  and  scarcely 
clothed,  so  many  of  them  as  hardly  to  permit  space 
to  lie  down,  watched  over  by  a  guard  of  merciless 
soldiers.  Disease  in  a  dozen  forms  was  always 
present,  and  every  morning  the  living  were  forced 
to  carry  out  those  who  had  died  over  night. 

During  this  year  1778,  and  for  several  years  after, 
the  war  was  carried  on  for  the  most  part  in  the 
South,  in  Georgia  and  South  Carolina,  while  the 
British  soldiers  in  the  city  made  trips  into  the  sur- 
rounding country  and  laid  it  waste.  Washington 
and  his  army  in  New  Jersey  could  do  little  more 
than  watch. 

In  the  year  1780  the  American  cause  came  very 
near  receiving  a  serious  check,  when  an  officer  high 
in  rank  turned  traitor.  This  man  was  Benedict 
Arnold,  and  had  been  a  vigorous  fighter.  But  now 
he  bargained  with  the  British  to  turn  over  to  them 
West  Point,  where  he  was  chief  in  command.  Ma- 
jor John  Andre,  a  brilliant  young  officer  under  the 
British  General  Clinton,  was  sent  to  make  the  final 

[177] 


The  Story  of  Manhattan 


arrangements.  Andre  was  returning  to  New  York 
when  he  was  captured  with  the  plans  of  West  Point 
concealed  in  his  boots.  He  was  hanged  as  a  spy, 
and  Arnold,  escaping  to  the  British  in  New  York, 
fought  with  them,  despised  by  the  Americans  and 
mistrusted  by  the  English  ;  for  a  traitor  can  never 
be  truly  liked  or  respected  even  by  those  who  bene- 
fit by  his  treachery. 

The  War  of  the  Revolution  went  on  until  the 
fall  of  the  year  1781,  when  General  Washington 
made  a  sudden  move  that  drew  his  men  away  from 
the  vicinity  of  New  York  before  the  British  army 
could  foresee  it.  Then  he  hurried  to  the  South. 
There,  at  Yorktpwn,  in  Virginia,  the  combined 
American  army  hemmed  in,  and  after  a  battle 
forced  to  surrender.  Lord  Cornwallis,  the  British 
commander  in  the  South,  and  all  his  men. 

This  victory  was  so  great  that  it  really  ended  the 
war.  Great  Britain  gave  up  the .  struggle,  and  a 
treaty  of  peace  was  signed. 

And  now  you  will  see  how  the  British  army  left 
the  city  of  New  York. 

[178] 


CHAPTER     XXX 


After  the  War 


ON  a  crisp,  cold  day,  late  in  the  fall,  a  tallj 
mild-faced  man  on  a  spirited  horse  passed 
down  the  Bowery  Road,  followed  by  a 
long  train  of  soldiers  whose  shabby  clothes  and 
worn  faces  told  of  days  of  trial  and  hardship.  This 
was  General  George  Washington  with  a  portion  of 
the  Continental  army.  They  were  entering  New 
York  on  this  same  day  when  the  British  troops 
were  leaving  it. 

But  although  the  British  were  leaving  under  the 
terms  of  the  treaty  of  peace,  and  had  gone  on 
board  ships  that  were  to  take  them  to  England, 
there  were  many  who  were  filled  with  rage  at  this 
enforced  departure.  At  the  fort  by  the  river-side 
they  had  knocked  the  cleats  off  the  flag-pole,  and 
had  greased  the  pole  so  that  no  one  could  climb  it 
to  put  up  the  United  States  flag  and  thus  flaunt  it 
in  the  face  of  the  departing  troops.     But  the  sol- 

[179] 


The  Story  of  Manhattan 


diers  of  Washington  who  reached  the  fort  just  as 
the  last  British  company  was  leaving,  set  to  work 
with  hammer  and  saw.  They  made  new  cleats  for 
the  pole.  Then  a  young  sailor — his  name  was 
John  Van  Arsdale — filling  his  pockets  with  the 
cleats  and  nailing  them  above  him  as  he  climbed 
the  pole  step  by  step,  was  able  to  put  the  flag  in 
position.  And  as  it  floated  to  the  breeze  a  salute 
of  thirteen  guns  sounded  while  the  British  troops 
were  still  within  hearing. 

So  now  the  city  of  New  York,  which  for  seven 
years  the  British  had  occupied,  was  again  in  posses- 
sion of  the  citizens. 

General  Washington  only  remained  here  a  few 
days.  He  made  his  head-quarters  in  Fraunces's 
Tavern,  in  Broad  Street,  and  there  at  noon  on  De- 
cember 4th,  his  oflicers  assembled  to  hear  his  words 
of  farewell.  It  was  an  afi^ectionate  parting  of  men 
who  had  sufi^ered  danger  and  privations  together. 
There  were  tears  in  Washington's  eyes. 

"  With  a  heart  full  of  love  and  gratitude,"  said 
he,  "  I   now  take  my  leave  of  you,  and  most  de- 

[180] 


iiii'llilii? 


blii 


MSllR^k. 


.§ 


^ 


Co 


^     idim 


.^T^ 


Co 


After  the  War 


voutly  wish  that  your  latter  days  may  be  as  pros- 
perous and  happy  as  your  former  ones  have  been 
glorious  and  honorable/' 

It  was  not  a  time  for  much  talking,  and  Wash- 
ington was  soon  gone,  leaving  real  sorrow  behind 
him.  Within  a  few  weeks  he  had  resigned  his 
commission  as  commander-in-chief,  and  had  re- 
tired as  a  private  citizen  to  his  home  at  Mount 
Vernon. 

The  city  of  New  York  was  in  quite  a  deplorable 
state.  The  wide  tract  swept  by  the  fire  of  1776 
still  lay  in  blackened  ruins.  No  effort  had  been 
made  to  rebuild  except  where  temporary  wooden 
huts  had  been  set  up  by  the  soldiers.  The 
churches,  all  of  which  had  been  used  for  one  pur- 
pose or  another,  were  dismantled,  blackened,  and 
marred.  There  was  scarcely  a  house  in  all  the  lit- 
tle town  that  had  not  been  ill-used  by  the  soldiers. 
Fences  were  down,  and  the  streets  were  filled  with 
rubbish.  It  was  a  city  stricken  with  premature 
decay.  Business  life  was  dead,  and  would  have  to 
be  begun  all    over  again.     The    citizens    were    di- 

[183] 


The  Story  of  Manhattan 


vided  against  themselves.  Feuds  existed  every- 
where. Patriots  who  had  fled  and  had  now  come 
back  felt  a  deep  bitterness  against  those  who  had 
adopted  the  royal  cause  for  the  purpose  of  keeping 
possession  of  their  property.  These,  however, 
complained  just  as  bitterly  because  now  their 
homes  were  taken  from  them  in  the  adjustment. 

King's  College,  of  which  you  have  been  told, 
had  been  closed  all  during  the  war,  and  had  been 
used  as  a  hospital.  It  was  opened  now,  but  was 
called  Columbia  College,  as  the  King  no  longer  had 
any  claims  on  the  city  or  its  institutions. 

During  the  next  few  years  business  slowly  re- 
vived, and  day  by  day  the  city  was  rebuilt,  growing 
into  something  like  its  old  self 

Some  little  distance  above  the  Common  was  the 
City  Hospital.  There  came  rumors  at  this  time 
that  the  bodies  of  the  dead  were  being  stolen  from 
the  graveyards  and  used  by  the  students  for  dis- 
secting purposes.  There  was  no  truth  in  these 
stories,  yet  many  persons  became  alarmed.  They 
gathered,    broke    into   the    hospital    and  destroyed 


After  the  War 


everything  of  value.  The  doctors  fled  to  the  jail 
on  the  Common  for  protection.  The  mob  de- 
termined to  seize  them,  and  tore  down  the  fences 
about  the  jail.  Then  the  Mayor  gathered  a  body 
of  citizens  to  oppose  the  mob.  As  night  came 
on,  the  rioters,  becoming  more  and  more  destruc- 
tive, were  fired  upon  and  five  were  killed.  After 
this  they  scampered  away,  the  trouble  was  over. 
ana  that  was  the  last  of  the  Doctors'  Mob. 


f.'3$] 


CHAPTER     XXXI 


The  First  President  of 
the  United  States 


REBUILDING    a  city  and    forming  a  new 
nation  is  such  a  great  task  that  you  can 
readily    beheve    it    was    not  accomplished 
without  some   difficulty.      The  colonies  were  free 
from    the    rule  of  the    English   King,  but    it  was 
necessary  for  them  to  learn  to  govern  themselves. 

Each  of  the  new  States  now  had  its  own  govern- 
ment. It  was  thought  by  many  that  there  should 
be  some  powerful  central  government  to  control  all 
the  States.  So  after  a  great  deal  of  deliberation  a 
convention  was  held  in  Philadelphia  over  which 
George  Washington  presided.  After  four  months 
of  hard  work  the  present  Constitution  of  the  United 
States  was  given  to  each  State  to  be  approved. 

There  was  strong  need  for  this  step  to  be  taken, 
but  there  were  a  great  many  who  did  not  want  it, 
because  they  thought  it  would  give  the  President  as 

[i86J 


The  First  President  of  tl)e  United  States 


much  power  as  a  king,  and  as  they  had  gone  to 
some  cost  to  rid  themselves  of  a  king,  they  did  not 
wish  another.  Those  who  wanted  a  central  gov- 
ernment were  called  Federalists.  Those  who  did 
not  want  it  were  called  Anti-Federalists. 

In  New  York  there  was  one  man  who  did  every- 
thing that  man  could  do  to  convince  others  that  the 
central  government  was  the  best  thing  for  the  good 
of  the  new  nation.  His  name  was  Alexander 
Hamilton.  He  was  a  young  man  who  had  been, 
ever  since  he  was  a  boy,  a  friend  of  George  Wash- 
ington ;  who  had  lived  in  Washington's  family  and 
had  fought  as  an  officer  side  by  side  with  Wash- 
ington, and  was  a  man  of  much  power  and  deep 
learning. 

This  Constitution  of  the  United  States  had  been 
approved  by  nine  of  the  States,  when,  in  June,  1788, 
a  convention  was  held  to  determine  whether  New 
York  was  to  approve  it  or  not.  At  this  convention 
Alexander  Hamilton  spoke  eloquently,  in  an  effort 
to  have  the  Constitution  approved. 

The  convention  was  still  meeting  in  July,  hav- 

[187] 


The  Story  of  Manhattan 


ing  come  to  no  decision,  when  the  followers  of 
Hamilton,  the  Federalists,  had  a  great  parade 
through  the  streets  of  New  York.  It  was  the  first 
big  parade  in  the  city,  and  the  grandest  spectacle 


Celebration  of  the   A(loptio?i  of  the    Coustitutiun. 

that  had  ever  been  seen  in  America  up  to  this  time. 
The  most  imposing  part  of  it  was  a  great  wooden 
ship  on  wheels,  made  to  represent  the  Ship  of  State, 
and  called   the  "  Federal    Ship   Hamilton."      The 


The  First  President  of  the  United  States 


parade  was  a  mile  and  a  half  long  and  there  were 
five  thousand  men  in  it.  It  passed  along  the  streets 
of  the  city,  past  the  fort,  and  on  up  Broadway  over 
the  tree-covered  hill  above  the  Common,  and  on 
to  the  Bayard  Farm  beyond  the  Collect  Pond. 
There  a  halt  was  made  and  the  thousands  of  people 
sat  down  on  the  grass  to  a  dinner. 

Three  days  after  this  the  convention  approved  of 
the  Constitution  for  the  State  of  New  York.  And 
so  the  majority  of  the  States  having  agreed  to  it,  in 
the  next  year  George  Washington  was  chosen  as  the 
first  President  of  the  United  States,  and  the  city  of 
New  York  was  selected  as  the  temporary  seat  of  the 
general  government. 


[1893 


CHAPTER     XXXII 


The  Welcome 
to  George   Washington 


NOW  that  New  York  was  the  seat  of  the  na- 
tional government,  the  old  City  Hall  in 
Wall  Street  was  made  larger  and  fitted 
up  in  grand  style  and  was  called  Federal  Hall. 

In  April  George  Washington  came  to  this  city 
from  his  home  at  Mount  Vernon.  Every  step  of 
his  way,  by  carriage  and  on  horseback,  was  a  march 
of  triumph.  The  people  in  towns  and  villages  and 
countryside  greeted  him  with  shouts  and  signs  of 
affection.  But  it  was  in  New  York  that  the  great- 
est welcome  was  given  him. 

The  city  had  taken  on  a  most  picturesque  ap- 
pearance. Every  house  was  decorated  with  colors, 
and  when  Washington  landed  from  a  barge  at  the 
foot  of  Wall  Street,  he  walked  up  a  stairway  strewn 
with  flowers.  The  streets  were  so  thronged  that 
way  could  scarcely  be  made.     Not  only  were  the 

[190] 


V3 

s 


CO 


The   Welcome  to  George  Washington 


streets  filled,  but  every  window  and  every  house- 
top. The  people  waited  for  hours,  and  when 
Washington  arrived  a  wild  hubbub  commenced 
that  kept  up  all  the  day  long. 

Washington  was  escorted  to  the  house  that  had 
been  prepared  for  him,  a  little  wav  out  of  town  at 
the  top  of  a  hill. 

If  in  the  days  that  you  read  this  you  walk  along 
Pearl  Street  until  you  come  to  the  East  River 
bridge  at  Franklin  Square,  a  part  of  the  city  crowd- 
ed with  tenements  and  factories,  you  will  stand 
close  by  where  the  house  was.  On  the  abutment 
of  the  bridge  you  will  find  a  tablet  that  has  been 
riveted  to  the  stone,  so  that  all  who  pass  may 
know  that  Washington  once  lived  there.  The 
house  was  built  by  Walter  Franklin,  a  rich  mer- 
chant, and  was  therefore  called  the  Franklin  House. 
The  square,  however,  does  not  take  its  name  from 
this  man,  but  from  the  renowned  Benjamin  Frank- 
lin. 

Very  soon,  on  a  bright,  sunshiny  day,  Washing- 
ton  stood   on   the   balcony   of  Federal   Hall,  sur- 

[193]     ' 


The   Story  of  Manhattan 


rounded  by  the  members  of  the  Senate  and  the 
House  of  Representatives,  with  the  citizens  throng- 
ing every  inch  of  the  nearby  streets.     And  there  he 


The  Joh?i  Street   Theatre,  lySl. 

took  the  oath  of  office,  and  having  taken  it  the  cry 
was  raised,  "  Long  Live  George  Washington,  First 
President   of  the    United    States,"  a   cry   that   was 

[-94] 


The  Welcome  to  George  Washington 


echoed  from  street  to  street,  and  went  on  echoing 
out  into  the  country  beyond. 

The  Hfe  of  the  First  President  was  a  simple 
and  a  busy  one.  He  rose  at  four  o'clock  each 
morning  and  went  to  bed  at  nine  in  the  even- 
ing. Many  hours  a  day  he  worked  at  matters  of 
state,  receiving  all  who  called,  so  that  there  was 
quite  a  stream  of  people  going  to  and  from  the 
Franklin  House  at  all  times.  Sometimes  during 
the  day  he  took  a  long  drive  with  Mrs.  Washington, 
which  he  called  the  "  Fourteen  Miles  'round,"  going 
up  one  side  of  the  island  above  the  city  and  com- 
ing down  the  other.  Sometimes  of  an  evening  he 
attended  a  performance  at  the  little  John  Street 
Theatre.  Always  on  Sunday  he  and  all  his  fam- 
ily went  to  St.  Paul's  Chapel.  And  the  pew 
in  which  they  sat  you  can  sit  in  if  you  go  to 
that  old  chapel,  for  it  has  been  preserved  all  these 
years. 

By  this  time  the  fort  by  the  Bowling  Green, 
which  had  stood  since  the  days  of  the  Dutch,  was 
torn  down  to  make  room  for  a  mansion  that  was  to 

[■9SJ 


The  Story  of  Manhattan 


be  called  the  Government  House  and  be  occupied 
by  the  President. 

The  mansion  was  built,  but  you  shall  see  pres- 
ently why  no  President  ever  occupied  it. 


[196] 


CHAPTER     XXXIII 


Concerning  the 

Tammany  Society  and 

Burr's  Bank 


THERE  was  formed  just  about  this  time,  in 
fact  the  very  month  after  Washington's 
inauguration,  an  organization  which  was 
called  the  Tammany  Society.  And  out  of  this 
society  grew  the  great  political  body  —  Tammany 
Hall.  The  Tammany  Society  took  its  name  from 
a  celebrated  Indian  chief,  and  at  first  had  as  its 
central  purpose  the  effort  to  keep  a  love  of  country 
strong  in  every  heart.  The  best  men  in  the  city 
belonged  to  the  Tammany  Society,  which  held 
meetings  and  transacted  business  under  all  sorts  of 
odd  and  peculiar  forms.  It  divided  the  seasons  of 
the  year  into  the  Season  of  Blossoms,  the  Season 
of  Fruits,  the  Season  of  Moons,  and  the  Season  of 
Snows,  instead  of  Spring,  Summer,   Autumn,  and 

[197] 


The  Story  of  Manhattan 


Winter.  And  the  head  of  the  order  was  called  the 
Grand  Sachem  or  Chief. 

New  York  now  became  a  very  active  and  a  very 
brilliant  city  indeed,  and  all  manner  of  improve- 
ments were  made.  The  first  sidewalks  were  laid 
along  Broadway,  just  above  St.  Paul's  Chapel. 
They  were  pavements  of  brick,  so  narrow  that  two 
persons  could  scarcely  walk  along  side  by  side. 
Then  the  high  hill  crossed  by  Broadway  just  above 
the  Common  was  cut  away  so  that  the  street 
stretched  away  as  broad  and  as  straight  as  you  see 
it  to-day.  Numbers  were  put  on  the  houses  and 
streets  were  cut  through  the  waste  lands  about  the 
Collect  Pond,  and  the  barracks  which  were  built  for 
the  British  soldiers  were  torn  away  as  unsightly 
structures.  These  barracks  were  log  huts  a  story 
high,  enclosed  by  a  high  wall.  The  gate  at  one 
end,  called  Tryon's  Gate,  gave  the  name  to  Try- 
on's  Row  as  it  now  exists.  Trinity  Church,  which 
had  been  in  ruins  since  the  fire,  was  rebuilt,  as 
well  as  many,  many  other  houses. 

Now   the  fact  that  the  city  was  the  seat  of  the 

[198J 


The  Tammany  Society  and  Burr's  Bank 


national  government  and  was  the  home  of  Wash- 
ington had  much  to  do  with  its  improvement.  But 
New  York  had  only  been  fixed  upon  as  the  capital 
temporarily,  and  a  dozen  States  were  anxious  for 
that  honor.  Finally,  in  the  second  year  that  Wash- 
ington  was  President,  it  was  decided  to  build  a  city 
which  should  be  the  seat  of  the  general  govern- 
ment, on  land  given  by  the  States  of  Maryland  and 
Virginia  for  that  purpose  and  called  the  District  of 
Columbia.  While  the  city  (which  was  given  the 
name  of  Washington)  was  being  built,  the  seat  of 
government  was  to  be  in  Philadelphia,  and  Wash- 
ington went  there  to  live.  A  great  many  of  the 
gay  and  brilliant  company  that  had  been  attracted 
to  the  capital  followed  him  there,  and  for  a  time 
New  York  languished  in  neglect. 

It  now  began  to  look  as  though  the  United 
States  would  be  drawn  into  another  war  with  Great 
Britain.  For  the  French  Revolution  was  in  prog- 
ress and  the  French  people  were  at  war  with  the 
English,  and  thought  that  the  Americans  should 
help    them  as    they   had  helped  the  Americans   in 

[199] 


The  Story  of  Manhattan 


Revolutionary  times.  But  President  Washington 
and  some  of  the  very  wise  and  good  people  about 
him  thought  it  best  to  have  nothing  to  do  with 
it.  So  a  treaty  was  made  between  England  and  the 
United  States,  and  the  French  did  not  get  the  help 
they  asked. 

Some  of  the  citizens  of  New  York,  quite  a  large 
number  of  them,  were  very  angry  when  they  heard 
of  this  treaty  and  burned  a  copy  of  it  on  the  Bowl- 
ing Green,  with  all  sorts  of  threats.  But  after  a 
time  those  who  had  shouted  against  it  changed 
their  minds.  They  had  something  more  serious  to 
think  of  nearer  home  before  many  years,  for  the 
small-pox  broke  out  in  the  city  and  thousands 
upon  thousands  hurried  away  to  escape  the  dread 
disease.  All  business  was  at  a  standstill,  and  even 
the  churches  were  closed.  When  the  scourge  had 
spent  its  force,  it  was  found  that  more  than  2,000 
had  died  of  it. 

There  was  one  man  who  took  advantage  of  the 
small-pox  scare  to  his  own  profit.  This  was  Aaron 
Burr.     You  will  remember   him  as  a  boy  fighting 

[200] 


The  Tammany  Society  and  Burr's  Bank 


by  the  side  of  Montgomery  in  Canada.  He  was 
now  a  lawyer  known  for  his  great  skill  the  country 
over  ;  a  man  of  education  and  deep  learning.  He 
was  the  leader  of  a  political  party,  a  party  which 
contended  with,  fought  with,  disagreed  with  at 
every  turn  the  party  of  which  Alexander  Hamilton 
was  one  of  the  chief  leaders. 

Now  there  were  two  banks  in  the  city,  both  of 
which  were  under  the  control  of  the  party  to  which 
Alexander  Hamilton  belonged.  Aaron  Burr  deter- 
mined that  his  party  should  have  a  bank,  too. 
The  citizens  were  prejudiced  against  banks,  and  did 
not  want  a  new  one.  But  Burr  determined  to  es- 
tablish one,  and  set  about  it  in  a  most  peculiar  way. 
All  at  once  the  report  got  about  that  the  small-pox 
had  been  caused  by  the  well-water.  This  was 
about  all  there  was  to  drink  in  the  city,  except  that 
which  came  from  a  few  springs  and  was  said  to  be 
very  impure  indeed.  So  Aaron  Burr  and  his 
friends  secured  a  charter  for  a  company  that  was  to 
supply  clear,  pure  water.  This  pleased  the  citizens 
very  much.      But  there  was  a  clause  in  the  charter 

[201] 


The  Story  of  Manhattan 


lo  the  effect  that  as  all  the  money  might  not  be 
needed  for  the  bringing  of  water  into  the  city,  that 
which  remained  could  be  used  for  any  purpose  the 
company  saw  fit.  Only  those  in  the  secret  under- 
stood that   the  money  was   to   be  used    to   start  a 


Reservoir  of  Manhattan   Water-Works  in   Chambers   Street. 

bank.  So  the  company  dug  deep  wells  not  far 
from  the  Collect  Pond,  and  pumped  water  from 
them  into  a  reservoir  which  was  built  close  by  the 
Common  on  Chambers  Street,  and  then  sent  it 
through     the    city    by    means    of  curious    wooden 

[ao2j 


The  Tammany   Society  and  Burr's  Bank 


pipes.  This  water  was  really  just  as  impure  as  that 
which  had  before  been  taken  from  the  wells,  and  it 
was  not  long  before  the  new  water-works  were 
known  to  be  a  failure.  Then  the  company  gave  all 
their  attention  to  the  bank,  which  had  in  the  mean- 
while been  started. 

This  company  of  Aaron  Burr's  was  called  the 
Manhattan  Company,  and  their  Manhattan  Bank 
has  been  kept  going  ever  since  and  is  still  in  exist- 
ence in  a  fine  large  building  in  Wall  Street. 

So  you  see  Aaron  Burr  this  time  got  the  better 
of  Alexander  Hamilton  and  his  friends. 

If  you  turn  the  page  you  will  read  more  of 
Hamilton  and  Burr. 


[203] 


CHAPTER     XXXIV 


More  about  Hamilton 
and  Burr 


THE  dawn   of  the   nineteenth   century   saw 
60,000  people  in  the  city  of  New  York 
and    the   town   extending   a   mile  up  the 
island.     Above  the  city  were  farms   and   orchards 
and   the   country    homes    of  the   wealthy.      Where 


The    Collect   Pond. 


Broadway  ended  there  was  a  patch  of  country 
called  Lispenard's  Meadow,  and  about  this  time  a 
canal  was  cut  through  it  from  the  Collect  Pond  to 

[204] 


More  about  Hamilton  and  Burr 


the  Hudson  River.  This  was  the  canal  which  long 
years  afterward  was  filled  in  and  gave  its  name  to 
Canal  Street. 

From  time  to  time  there  were  projects  for  setting 
out  a  handsome  park  about  the  shores  of  the  Col- 
lect Pond,  but  the  townspeople  thought  it  was  too 
far  away  from  the  city.  But  in  a  few  years  the  city 
grew  up  to  the  Collect  Pond,  which  was  then  filled 
in,  and  to-day  a  gloomy  prison  (The  Tombs)  is 
built  upon  the  spot. 

One  of  the  new  undertakings  was  the  building  of 
a  new  City  Hall,  as  the  old  one  in  Wall  Street  was 
no  longer  large  enough.  So  the  present  City  Hall 
was  begun  on  what  was  then  the  Common,  but  it  was 
not  finished  for  a  good  ten  years.  The  front  and 
sides  were  of  white  marble,  and  the  rear  of  cheaper 
red  sandstone,  as  it  was  thought  that  it  would  be 
many  years  before  anyone  would  live  far  enough 
uptown  to  notice  the  difference.  How  odd  this 
seems  in  these  days,  when  the  City  Hall  is  quite  at 
the  beginning  of  the  city. 

Aaron  Burr  had  by  this  time  been  elected  Vice- 
[205] 


The  Story  of  Manhattan 


President  of  the  United  States.  But  he  soon  lost 
the  confidence  of  the  people,  and  when,  in  the  year 
1803,  he  hoped  to  be  made  Governor  of  the  State  of 
New  York,  he  was  defeated. 

Now  at  this  time  Alexander  Hamilton  was  still  a 


The  Grange t  Kingsbridge  Roady  the  Residence  of 
Alexander  Hamilton. 

leader  in  the  party  opposed  to  Aaron  Burr,  and  did 
everything  possible  to  defeat  him.  And  Burr, 
angered  because  of  this,  and  believing  that  Hamil- 
ton had  sought  to  bring  dishonor  upon  him,  chal- 
lenged  Hamilton  to  a  duel — the   popular   way   of 

[206J 


More  about  Hamilton  and  Burr 


settling  such  serious  grievances.  So  Hamilton 
accepted  the  challenge  and  on  a  morning  in  the 
middle  of  the  summer  of  1 804,  just  after  sunrise, 
the  duel  took  place  on  the  heights  of  the  shore  of  New 
Jersey,  just  above  Weehawken.  Hamilton  fell  at  the 
first  fire  mortally  wounded.     The  next  day  he  died. 

There  was  great  sorrow  throughout  the  entire 
country,  for  he  was  a  brave  and  good  man,  and  had 
been  a  leader  since  the  War  of  the  Revolution. 
All  the  citizens  followed  him  to  his  rest  in  Trinity 
Churchyard,  and  in  the  churchyard  to-day  you  can 
see  his  tomb  carefully  taken  care  of  and  decorated, 
year  by  year. 

After  the  death  of  Hamilton  the  feeling  against  Burr 
in  the  city  was  bitter  indeed,  and  he  soon  went  away. 

A  few  years  later,  when  a  project  was  formed  for 
establishing  a  great  empire  in  the  southwest  and 
overthrowing  the  United  States,  this  same  Aaron 
Burr  was  thought  to  be  concerned  in  the  plot. 
When,  after  a  trial,  he  was  acquitted,  he  went  to 
live  in  Europe.  But  he  returned  after  a  time,  and 
the  last  years  of  his  life  were  passed  in  New  York. 

[207] 


CHAPTER     XXXV 


Robert   Fulton    Builds 
a  Steam-Boat 


THERE  had  come  to  be  a  great  need  for 
schools.     There  were  private  schools  and 
there  were  school-rooms  attached  to  some 
of  the  churches,  but  it  was  in  this  year,  1805,  ^^^^ 
the    first    steps    were    taken    to    have   free   schools 
for  all. 

A  kindly  man  named  De  Witt  Clinton  was 
Mayor  of  the  city,  and  he,  with  some  othe»-  citizens, 
organized  the  Free  School  Society  that  was  to  pro- 
vide an  education  for  every  child.  The  following 
year  the  first  free  school  was  opened.  The  society 
continued  in  force  for  forty-eight  years,  each  year 
the  number  of  its  schools  increasing,  until  finally  all 
its  property  was  turned  over  to  the  city. 

In  the  days  when  De  Witt  Clinton  was  Mayor 
the  first  steam-boat  was  built  to  be  used  on  the 
Hudson  River.     For  many  a  year  there  had  been 

[208J 


Robert  Fulton  Builds  a  Steam-Boat 


men  who  felt  sure  that  steam  could  be  applied  to 
boats  and  made  to  propel  them  against  the  wind 
and  the  tide.  They  had  tried  very  hard  to  build 
such  a  boat  but  none  had  succeeded.  Sometimes 
the  boilers  burst.  Sometimes  the  paddle-wheels  re- 
fused to  revolve.  For  one  reason  or  another  the 
boats  were  failures. 

A  man  named  John  Fitch  had  built  a  little  steam- 
boat and  had  tried  it  on  the  Collect  Pond,  where  it 
had  steamed  around  much  to  the  surprise  of  the 
good  people  of  the  city  who  went  to  look  at  it. 
But  it  was  considered  more  as  a  toy  than  anything 
else.  Nothing  came  of  the  experiment,  and  the 
boat  itself  was  neglected  after  a  time  and  dragged 
up  on  the  bank  beside  the  lake,  where  it  lay  until 
it  rotted  away. 

Then  Robert  Livingston,  who  was  chancellor  of 
the  city,  felt  sure  he  could  build  a  steam-boat  that 
would  be  of  use.  As  he  was  a  wealthy  man  he 
spent  a  great  deal  of  money  trying  to  make  such  a 
boat ;  and  as  he  was  a  very  learned  man  he  gave 
much  thought  to  it. 

[209] 


The   Story  of  Manhattan 


Chancellor  Livingston  was  in  France  when  he 
met  another  American,  named  Robert  Fulton,  who 
was  an  artist  and  a  civil  engineer,  and  who  also 
hoped    to    build   a   boat  that  could    be    moved   by 


The    Clermofity    Fultoji* s   First   Steam-Boat. 

Steam.      Livingston  and   Fulton  decided  that  they 
would  together  build  such  a  boat. 

So  Fulton  came  back  to  New  York  and  with  the 
money  given  him  by  Livingston  began  to  build  a 
steam-boat  which  he  called  the  Clermont — the  name 
of   Chancellor    Livingston's    country    home.     The 

[210] 


Robert   Fulton   Builds  a  Steam-Boat 


citizens  laughed  a  good  deal  at  the  idea  and  called 
the  boat  "  Fulton's  Folly."  In  August,  1807,  the 
Clermont  was  finished,  and  a  crowd  gathered  to  see 
it  launched  and  to  laugh  at  its  failure.  But  the 
boat  moved  out  into  the  stream  and  up  the  Hudson 
River,  while  the  people  gazed  in  wonder  at  the 
marvellous  thing  gliding  through  the  water,  moved 
apparently  by  some  more  than  human  force.  It 
went  all  the  way  to  Albany,  and  from  that  day  on 
continued  to  make  trips  up  and  down  the  river. 
This  was  the  first  successful  steam-boat  in  the  world. 
Soon  steam  ferry-boats  took  the  place  of  those 
which  had  been  driven  by  horse-power.  Quickly, 
too,  after  the  success  of  the  Clermont,  steam  navi- 
gation went  rapidly  forward  on  both  sides  of  the 
ocean.  Fulton  made  other,  and  much  better  boats. 
Other  men  followed  in  his  footsteps,  and  the  great 
ocean  liners  of  to-day  are  one  of  the  results. 


t2tl] 


CHAPTER     XXXVI 


The  City  Plan 


IT  is  interesting  at  this  time  to  read  how 
the  streets  came  to  be  just  where  they  are. 
The  city  was  growing  more  rapidly  than  ever 
and  the  streets  and  byways  met  one  another  at 
every  sort  of  angle,  forming  a  tangled  maze.  To 
remedy  this,  a  commission  was  formed  of  several  of 
the  prominent  citizens  to  determine  just  what  course 
the  streets  should  take.  Now  this  commission  de- 
cided not  to  interfere  with  those  that  existed,  but  to 
map  out  the  island  above  the  city  and  plan  for  those 
that  were  to  be.  They  worked  for  four  years  and 
then  submitted,  in  the  year  1811,  what  they  called 
the  City  Plan.  If  you  will  look  at  a  map,  you  will 
see  at  the  lower  part  of  the  Island  of  Manhattan 
that  the  streets  cross  and  recross  each  other  in  the 
most  bewildering  manner.  And  you  will  also  see 
that  above  this  jumble  the  streets  and  avenues  ex- 
tend through  the  island  in  a  regular  and  uniform 

[21a] 


The   City  Plan 


way.  This  change  was  the  result  of  the  City 
Plan. 

While  the  commission  was  making  its  plan,  there 
came  threatenings  of  war.  Again  England  was  at 
war  with  France,  and  those  two  countries  in  fighting 
one  another  very  often  injured  the  American  ships. 
Besides,  the  British  war-ships  had  a  disagreeable 
way  of  searching  American  ships  and  taking  charge 
of  any  Englishmen  they  found  on  them,  even  those 
who  had  become  American  citizens.  These  same 
British  war-ships  often  fired  upon  those  American 
vessels  whose  captains  objected  to  their  being 
searched. 

So  it  came  about  that  American  ships  carrying 
merchandise  to  other  countries  and  bringing  mer- 
chandise to  American  ports  were  interfered  with 
more  and  more,  and  American  commerce  was  thus 
ruined,  for  no  American  ship  was  safe.  The  end 
came  early  in  the  year  1812,  when  the  United  States 
declared  war  against  Great  Britain. 

As  soon  as  war  was  declared,  the  citizens  of  New 
York  united  for  defence,  and  when  news  came  that 

[2 '3] 


The  Story  of  Manhattan 


the  city  was  to  be  attacked,  a  great  meeting  was  held 
in  City   Hall   Park,  and    everybody  decided,  then 


Castle   Garden. 


and  there,  to  support  their  country  with  their  fort- 
unes, their  honor,  and  their  lives.  Then  they  went 
to  work,  stopping  all  other  employment,  and  night 

[2  Hi 


The  City  Plan 


and  day  they  built  forts  and  defences.  They  built 
forts  on  the  islands  in  the  bay  to  defend  the  ap- 
proach to  the  city  from  the  ocean,  and  they  built 
forts  in  the  Hell  Gate  to  defend  the  approach  by 
way  of  Long  Island  Sound,  and  they  built  batteries 
on  the  Island  of  Manhattan  itself  One  fortl)uilt 
at  this  time  was  on  a  little  island  close  by  the  Bat- 
tery, and  was  called  Fort  Clinton.  This  afterward 
became  Castle  Garden. 

But  though  the  British  had  sent  soldiers  and 
ships  to  fight  the  forces  in  America,  they  made  no 
effort  to  capture  the  city  of  New  York. 

The  war  went  on  for  two  years ;  there  were 
battles,  many  of  them,  on  the  land  and  on  the 
sea.  Very  often  the  British  had  the  best  of  it,  and 
then  again  the  Americans  would  have  the  best  of  it. 
But  in  the  end,  although  the  British  fought  hard, 
the  Americans  fought  harder,  and  in  the  first 
month  of  the  year  1815  the  war  ended  with  a 
great  battle  in  New  Orleans,  which  the  Ameri- 
cans won. 

[215] 


CHAPTER     XXXVII 

The  Story  of  the  Erie 
Canal 


EVERYTHING  was  going  along  smoothly 
when  all  at  once  the  yellow  fever  broke  out 
on  the  west  side,  far  downtown.  It  raged 
with  even  more  violence  than  had  the  small-pox. 
Citizens  fled,  and  the  stricken  district  was  fenced  off 
so  that  no  one  might  enter  it.  It  w^as  like  a  place  of 
the  dead,  silent  and  deserted.  Many  people  went 
far  out  of  town  to  Greenwich  Village,  and  many 
business  houses  opened  oflices  in  this  little  settle- 
ment ;  with  the  result  that  Greenwich  Village  started 
on  a  new  life,  and  it  was  not  long  before  it  grew  to 
be  an  important  part  of  New  York  instead  of  a 
suburb.  For  many  who  had  transferred  their  busi- 
ness also  went  to  live  there,  not  returning  to  the 
city  even  after  the  fever  had  passed  away. 

In   the  year  after  the  fever  (it  was   by  this  time 
1824)  General  Lafayette  came  again  to  America  and 

[2.6J 


55 


The  Story  of  the  Erie   Canal 


was  warmly  received.  Landing  first  at  Staten  Island, 
he  was,  on  the  following  day,  escorted  by  a  naval 
procession  and  conducted  to  Castle  Garden.  A  mul- 
titude came  to  voice  their  welcome  and  follow  him  to 
the  City  Hall,  where  he  was  greeted  by  the  Mayor 
and  all  of  the  officials.  During  his  stay  he  held 
daily  receptions  in  the  City  Hall,  and  afterward 
visited  the  public  institutions  and  buildings.  On 
leaving  for  a  tour  of  the  country  he  was  accom- 
panied all  the  way  to  Kingsbridge  by  a  detachment 
of  troops.  For  thirteen  months  he  travelled  through 
the  country,  and  when  he  returned  to  New  York  in 
the  autumn  of  the  next  year,  the  citizens  gave  a 
banquet  in  his  honor,  at  Castle  Garden,  which  sur- 
passed anything  of  the  kind  that  had  ever  been 
seen. 

Then  General  Lafayette  sailed  away  to  France 
again.  In  the  month  after  he  had  gone,  with  all 
the  city  cheering  him  and  making  such  a  din  that 
you  would  have  thought  that  there  never  could  be 
a  greater,  in  the  very  next  month  the  city  was  again 
all    decorated,  and    more    shouts   rent   the   air,  for 

[219] 


The   Story  of  Manhattan 


a  grand  undertaking  had  just  been  completed, 
which  you  shall  now  hear  of. 

Ever  since  the  days  of  the  Revolution  there  had 
been  talk  of  digging  a  canal  from  the  Great  Lakes 
to  the  Atlantic  Ocean ;  for  you  must  know  that  in 
these  days  there  being  no  railroads,  most  of  the 
traffic  and  travel  were  done  by  water.  This  canal 
had  been  long  talked  of,  but  no  step  had  been  taken 
toward  building  it. 

Now  you  will  remember  that  De  Witt  Clinton, 
while  he  was  Mayor,  took  a  great  deal  of  interest  in 
everything  that  was  for  the  good  of  the  city.  Well, 
after  he  had  been  Mayor  for  some  years,  he  became 
Governor  of  the  State,  and  it  was  he  who  came  to 
think  that  although  the  building  of  the  canal  would 
be  a  great  undertaking,  for  it  would  have  to  be 
more  than  300  miles  long,  it  might  after  all  be  ac- 
complished. For  years  he  worked,  with  some 
others,  while  many  said  that  it  was  a  foolish  idea, 
and  too  much  of  a  task  even  to  think  of.  But  still 
Clinton  worked  at  his  plans,  and  finally,  the  money 
having  been  given  by  the  State,  the  digging  of  the 

[220] 


The  Story  of  the  Erie   Canal 


canal  was  begun.  The  work  went  on  for  eight 
years,  and  in  the  month  of  October,  1825,  was  fin- 
ished. 

The  canal  was  a  water-way  that  stretched  across 
the  State  of  New  York  from  Buffalo  to  Albany 
and  there  joined  the  Hudson  River,  which  leads 
straight  to  the  city  of  New  York,  and  so  on  to  the 
ocean. 

The  people  in  the  city  and  in  the  State  were  de- 
lighted at  the  completion  of  the  work,  and  on  the 
day  of  the  opening  of  the  canal  they  expressed  their 
joy  as  loudly  as  they  could.  Governor  De  Witt  Clin- 
ton was  at  the  Buffalo  end,  and  he,  with  the  State 
officers,  started  in  a  boat  decorated  with  flags  and 
bunting  and  was  towed  through  the  canal.  As  the 
boat  set  out  from  Buffalo,  a  cannon  was  fired,  and 
many  more  cannon  having  been  placed  each  within 
hearing  distance  of  the  other  by  the  side  of  the 
canal,  in  turn  took  up  the  sound  and  carried  it 
along,  mile  after  mile,  until  the  last  one,  stationed 
in  the  city  of  New  York,  was  fired,  one  hour  and 
twenty-five  minutes  after  the  first  had  been  fired  at 

[221] 


The  Story  of  Manhattan 


Buffalo.  By  this  the  people  all  across  the  State 
knew  that  the  canal  had  been  opened. 

For  ten  days  the  boats  crept  along  the  canal,  and 
at  each  town  bands  played,  and  speeches  were  made, 
until  on  the  tenth  day  the  Governor  and  his  party 
reached  New  York — the  first  to  make  the  journey 
across  the  State  by  water.  They  were  taken  to 
Sandy  Hook,  the  Mayor  of  New  York,  with  many 
others,  attending,  and  surrounded  by  all  the  ships 
in  the  bay,  with  their  colors  flying  and  their  whis- 
tles blowing.  And  there  at  Sandy  Hook,  Gov- 
ernor Clinton  poured  a  keg  of  water  which  he  had 
brought  from  Lake  Erie  into  the  waters  of  the 
ocean. 

Thus  were  the  waters  of  the  Great  Lakes  and  the 
waters  of  the  Atlantic  Ocean  united,  and  the  city 
was  illuminated  as  it  had  never  been  before,  and 
great  bonfires  burned  all  night,  in  honor  of  the 
wedding. 


[222] 


CHAPTER     XXXVIII 

The  Building 
of  the  Croton  Aqueduct 

IT  really  seemed  now  as  though  some  fairy 
wand  had  been  turned  toward  New  York. 
Blocks  of  houses  of  brick  and  stone  sprang 
up,  and  buildings  of  every  sort  crept  up  the  Island 
of  Manhattan  and  were  occupied  by  more  than 
200,000  people.  The  city  was  the  centre  of  art 
and  literature  and  science  in  America.  The 
streets  were  lighted  by  gas  ;  there  were  fine  thea- 
tres ;  and  the  first  street  railroad  In  the  world  was 
in  operation — the  first  step  toward  crowding  out 
the  lumbering  stages.  Newspapers  were  multiply- 
ing, and  there  were  now  fifty  various  sorts,  daily, 
weekly,  and  monthly.  The  dailies  cost  six  cents, 
and  were  delivered  to  regular  subscribers.  In  the 
year  1833  the  Sun^  the  first  penny  paper  to  be  pub- 
lished in  the  city,  was  Issued.  It  was  a  success. 
Boys  sold  it  on  the  streets  in  all  parts  of  the  town. 

[2^3] 


The  Story  of  Manhattan 


This  was  the  beginning  of  the  work  of  the  news- 
boys, and  after  this  they  were  to  be  found  all  over 
the  country. 

But  now  there  came  another  great  fire.  On  a 
December  night,  a  night  so  cold  that  it  was  said 
there  had  not  been  such  another  in  fifty  years, 
flames  broke  out  in  the  lower  part  of  town  near  the 
river.  The  citizens  battled  with  it  as  best  they 
could,  but  it  burned  for  three  days,  destroying  al- 
most all  of  the  business  end  of  the  city.  For  years 
afterward  it  was  called  the  "  Great  Fire,**  and  was 
remembered  with  dread.  To-day  there  is  a  marble 
tablet  on  a  house  in  Pearl  Street  near  Coenties  Slip, 
which  was  the  centre  of  the  burned  district,  where 
you  can  read  of  how  fearful  the  fire  was  and  how 
thankful  the  people  were  that  the  entire  city  was 
not  destroyed.  But  the  houses  were  quickly  re- 
built, and  New  York  prospered  more  than  ever 
before. 

Destructive  as  the  fire  was,  however,  it  called  at- 
tention to  the  fact  that  there  was  a  woful  lack  of 
water  in  the  city.      Most  of  the  water  was  still  sup- 

[224] 


)0 

s 


The   Building   of  the  Croton   Aqueduct 


plied  by  the  wells  and  springs  which  had  been  suf- 
ficient for  a  small  town,  but  were  by  no  means  so 
for  a  city  of  the  present  size.  It  was  now  that  the 
idea  of  bringing  a  large  supply  of  water  from  with- 
out the  city  was  conceived.  The  plan  was  to  build 
an  artificial  course,  or  aqueduct,  for  water,  from 
the  Croton  River,  forty  miles  and  more  above  the 
city.  Many  thought  that  this  was  not  possible,  but 
then  other  seemingly  impossible  things  had  been 
accomplished,  so  they  pushed  ahead  and  com- 
menced the  building  of  this  work.  A  dam  was 
thrown  across  the  Croton  River,  forming  a  lake 
five  miles  long.  The  aqueduct  extended  from  this 
dam  to  the  city.  Sometimes  it  had  to  be  cut 
through  the  solid  rock  ;  sometimes  it  was  continued 
underground  by  tunnel  ;  sometimes  over  valleys  by 
embankments,  until  at  last  it  reached  the  Harlem 
River  where  a  stone  bridge,  called  the  High  Bridge, 
was  built  to  support  it.  Through  this  channel  of 
solid  masonry  the  water  was  brought  into  the  city, 
and  when  it  reached  the  Island  of  Manhattan  was 
distributed   in    pipes   over   the    entire     city.      This 

[227] 


The  Story  of  Manhattan 


wonderful  work  cost  $9,000,000,  and  took  seven 
years  to  build.  When  the  water  was  first  released 
from  Croton   River  and  flowed  into  the  new  chan- 


High  Bridge,   Croton  Aqueduct. 

nel,  rushing  along  for  forty  miles  to  the  city,  the 
citizens  rejoiced  greatly.  There  was  a  celebration 
with  parades  and  illuminations. 

It  now   looked  as  though  there  would  be  enough 
[228] 


The   Building  of  the  Croton  Aqueduct 


water  to  last  no  matter  how  large  the  city  should 
become,  tor  there  were  now  95,000,000  gallons  a 
day  available.  But  before  another  fifty  years  had 
passed  there  was  a  cry  for  more  water.  But  this 
time  the  people  knew  just  what  to  do,  and  another 
aqueduct  was  built  from  the  Croton  River.  This 
one  was  carried  under  the  Harlem  River  instead  of 
over  it,  supplying  so  much  water  that  it  will  doubt- 
less be  many  a  long  year  indeed  before  another  will 
be  needed. 


[229] 


CHAPTER     XXXIX 


Professor  Morse  and  the 
Telegraph 


THERE  lived  in  New  York  at  this  time  a 
man  whose  name  was  Samuel  F.  B.  Morse. 
He  was  an  artist  and  was  interested  in 
many  branches  of  science.  He  had  founded  the 
National  Academy  of  Design  and  was  Professor  of 
the  Literature  of  the  Arts  of  Design  at  the  Uni- 
versity of  the  City  of  New  York.  This  man  be- 
lieved that  an  electric  current  could  be  transmitted 
through  a  wire  and  so  make  it  possible  to  convey  a 
message  from  one  point  to  another.  One  night, 
after  having  worked  on  his  idea  for  years,  he  in- 
vited a  few  friends  to  the  University  building,  which 
overlooked  Washington  Square,  and  showed  them 
the  result  of  his  labors.  It  was  the  first  telegraph 
in  the  world.  This  was  a  crude  affair,  but  Pro- 
fessor Morse  proved  that  he  could  send  a  message 
over  a  wire.      In  the  year   1845   ^^  ^^^  advanced 

[230] 


Professor  Morse  and  the  Telegraph 


so  far  that  a  telegraph  line  was  built  between  New 
York  City  and  Philadelphia.  Then  all  the  world 
recognized  the  genius  of  Morse.  The  people  of 
New  York  especially  honored  him,  and  even  in  his 
lifetime  they  erected  a  statue  of  him  which  you  can 
see  to-day  in  Central  Park. 

By  this  time  the  city  had  crept  up  to  both  Green- 
wich Village  and  Bowery  Village,  and  had  engulfed 
them.  On  every  side  were  houses,  some  of  them 
five  and  six  stories  high,  where  before  they  had  been 
but  two  stories. 

An  open  space  nearby  Bowery  Village  was  called 
Astor  Place.  This  was  the  scene  in  1849  ^^  ^ 
famous  riot,  which  came  about  in  this  wise :  Edwin 
Forrest,  an  American  actor,  and  William  Charles 
Macready,  an  English  actor,  had  quarrelled  about 
some  fancied  slight.  So  when  Macready  came  to 
the  city  to  play  at  the  Astor  Place  Opera  House, 
some  friends  of  Forrest*s  gathered  and  sought  to 
prevent  his  acting  by  shouting  their  disapproval. 
This  was  the  excuse  for  an  unruly  mob  to  gather 
outside  the  theatre  and  storm  the  house  with  stones. 

[23'] 


The  Story  of  Manhattan 


Macready  escaped  by  leaving  the  theatre  by  a  rear 
door.  Then  a  regiment  of  soldiers  came  and  after 
using  all  peaceful  measures  to  quell  the  disturbance, 
fired  upon  the  mob  and  killed  many  of  them  before 
the  space  was  cleared  and  quiet  restored. 


Crystal  Palace. 


Castle  Garden,  which  had  once  been  Fort  Clin- 
ton, had  become  a  place  of  amusement.  Here 
Jenny  Lind,  "  the  Swedish  Nightingale,"  sang,  and 
many  another  artist  of  rare  ability  was  seen  and 
heard. 


Professor  Morse  and  the  Telegraph 


Now,  too,  a  World*s  Fair  was  opened  on  Mur- 
ray Hill.  Held  in  a  fairy-like  building  of  glass, 
made  in  the  form  of  a  Greek  cross,  with  graceful 
dome  and  arches,  it  was  a  Crystal  Palace  in  fact 
as  in  name,  where  all  the  products  of  the  world 
were  shown.  But,  unfortunately,  a  few  years  later 
it  was  burned  to  the  ground. 

There  are  always  some  wise  and  thoughtful  peo- 
ple who  think  of  the  comfort  of  others,  and  some  of 
these  realized  that  it  would  not  be  long  before  the 
Island  of  Manhattan  would  be  so  covered  with 
houses  that  there  would  be  no  open  places  where 
one  might  enjoy  fresh  air  and  recreation.  They 
said  it  would  be  well  to  have  a  garden  laid  out  for 
this  purpose,  with  walks  and  drives  as  needed. 
This  was  done  and  an  immense  tract  of  woodland 
and  forest,  almost  as  large  as  the  city  itself  at  the 
time,  was  set  apart.  As  this  was  in  the  centre  of 
the  island  it  was  called  the  Central  Park.  Millions 
of  people  have  been  thankful  for  it,  although  they 
have  not  put  their  gratitude  into  words. 

We   have  now   come   to  the  days   of  the  Great 


The  Story  of  Manhattan 


Civil  War,  when  many  men  left  the  city  to  join  the 
army.  Now  there  were  those  who  did  not  see  the 
necessity  for  war  and  had  no  desire  to  be  soldiers, 
so  when  more  men  were  called  for  there  was  a  riot ; 
a  terrible  and  destructive  one.  A  mob  swept  over 
the  city,  a  murderous,  plundering  mob  that  left  a 
trail  of  horror  wherever  it  touched ;  and  before  it 
was  put  down  a  thousand  persons  had  been  killed 
or  injured,  and  j2,ooo,ooo  damage  had  been  done. 
This  was  the  Draft  Riot.  The  Civil  War  ended, 
the  city  prospered,  growing  greater  and  greater, 
until  in  the  year  1878  the  stages  and  horse-cars 
could  no  longer  carry  all  the  people.  Then  rail- 
roads elevated  above  the  streets  were  built  that 
could  carry  great  numbers  swiftly  to  all  parts  of  the 
city. 

New    York,  already    become    one   of  the    great 
cities  of  the  world,  advanced  with  giant  strides. 


[234] 


CHAPTER     XL 


The  Greater  New  York 


THE  time  came  when  the  city  of  New  York 
grew  beyond  the  limits  of  the  Island  of 
Manhattan,  though  the  island  had  seemed 
such  a  boundless  tract  of  land,  that  it  had  been 
thought  laughable  for  the  City  Plan  to  provide  for 
streets  over  its  entire  length.  The  city  grew  larger 
and  larger.  It  stretched  up  to  the  Harlem  River, 
leaped  over  it  and  went  branching  out  into  the 
country  beyond.  Great  libraries  were  built ;  hos- 
pitals for  the  sick ;  prisons  for  the  wrong-doer, 
markets,  churches,  public  institutions  of  every  kind. 
Buildings  grew  taller  and  taller  until  they  came  to 
be  twenty  and  twenty-five  stories  high.  Even  then 
there  were  so  many  people  that  there  were  not 
houses  enough  to  hold  them  all.  So  they  swarmed 
over  into  the  already  large  city  of  Brooklyn,  on  Long 
Island.  And  the  ferry-boats  being  no  longer  able  to 
carry  the  vast  crowds  in  comfort,  a  great  suspension 

[23  5  J 


The  Story  of  Manhattan 


bridge  was  built  over  the  East  River  from  New 
York  to  Brooklyn.  At  last  the  city  of  New  York 
and  the  city  of  Brooklyn  had  so  much  in  common, 
that  they,  with  some  of  their  suburbs,  were  united 
into  one  great  city  in  the  year  1898. 

Then  the  Island  of  Manhattan  became  simply 
the  Borough  of  Manhattan,  one  of  the  five  boroughs 
of  Greater  New  York. 

So  the  story  of  the  Island  of  Manhattan  is 
ended. 


[236] 


Table   of  Efents 


Year  Page 

1609.      Hudson  discovers  the  island  of  Manhattan  .        .        .  4 

161 3.  Ship  Tiger  burned 10 

161 4.  United  New  Netherland  Company  organized     .        .12 

161 4.      Fort  Manhattan  built 13 

1 62 1.      West  India  Company  organized 13 

1626.      Peter  Minuit  Governor 17 

Fort  Amsterdam  built 19 

1629.      Charter    adopted    under    which    the    Manors    were 

established 21 

1633.      Van  Twiller  Governor 24 

1636.      Annetje  Jans'  Farm  laid  out 27 

1638.      William  Kieft  appointed  Governor      .        .        .        -33 

1 64 1.  First  Cattle  Fair  held  on  Bowling  Green    .        .        '3^ 

1642.  Stadt  Huys  built »  36 

Church  built  in  the  Fort 36 

1643.  Beginning  of  the  Indian  wars 39 

1644.  Fence  erected,  which   was  later  replaced  by  a  wall, 

and  still  later  by  Wall  Street 41 

1646.  Peter  Stuyvesant  appointed  Governor        ...  44 

1647.  Kieft  and   Dominie   Bogardus  drowned  in  the  wreck 

of  the  Princess  while  returning  to  Holland     .        .42 

1652.  City  of  New  Amsterdam  incorporated        ...  47 

1653.  New  Amsterdam  made  a  walled  city  by  the  building 

of  a  wall  across  the  island 48 

1655.      Stuyvesant  subdues  the  Swedes  on  the  Delaware        .  48 

Indian  war  breaks  out  again 49 

1664.      English  capture  New  Amsterdam  and  it  becomes  New 

York 53 

Richard  Nicolls  Governor 55 

[237] 


Table  of  Events 

Year  Page 

1667.      Francis   Lovelace  appointed  Governor        .        .        '55 
1670.      Lovelace  establishes  the  first  Exchange        ...      57 

1673.  First  mail  route  established 57 

The  Dutch  retake  New  York 58 

1674.  English  again  in  possession  of  New  York  .      '  .        .60 

Sir  Edmund  Andros  Governor 61 

Captain    Manning  disgraced   for   surrendering   New 

York  to  the  Dutch 62 

1678.      Bolting  Act  created 62 

1 68 1.  Andros  recalled 64 

1682.  Thomas   Dongan    Governor 64 

1686.      Dongan  Charter  granted  to  the  city  .        .        .        '65 

1688.  New    York    and    New    England    united,    and    Sir 

Edmund  Andros  Governor 65 

1689.  William  IIL  becomes  King  of  England     ...      66 
Jacob   Leisler  assumes  title   of  Lieutenant-Governor 

and  takes  charge  of  New  York        .        .        .        .67 

1 69 1.  Henry  Sloughter  Governor 70 

Leisler  amd  Milborne  executed 74 

Governor  Sloughter  dies 75 

1692.  Benjamin  Fletcher  Governor ^'] 

1693.  Bradford  establishes  first  printing  press  in  the  colony    .      79 

1696.  Trinity  Church  built 79 

Bolting  Act  repealed 63 

Lord  Bellomont  appointed  Governor  .        .        .        .82 
Captain  Kidd  sails  to  search  for  pirates        .        .        '83 

1697.  Streets  first  lighted  at  night 87 

1699.  City  wall  demolished  and  Wall  Street  laid  out  .        .87 
City  Hall  built  in  Wall  Street 87 

1700.  First  library  opened 87 

[238] 


Table  of  Events 


Year 

[701. 

1702, 
[705. 


1708. 
I7IO. 
I7II 

1714. 

1715. 
1720. 
1725, 
1728. 
1729. 

1732. 

1733' 
173?- 
1736. 

174 
1743- 
1745- 
1752. 

1753- 
1755- 
1756. 


1759- 


Page 
Captain  Kidd  executed  in  England      ....      84 

Lord  Bellomont  dies 88 

Lord  Cornbury  Governor 89 

Queen's   Farm  granted  to  Trinity  Church  by  Queen 

Anne 28 

Lord  Lovelace  Governor 95 

Robert  Hunter  Governor 96 

Public  slave  market  established 97 

First  public  clock  set  on  City  Hall  in  Wall  Street  .  99 
Lewis  Morris  appointed  Chief-Justice        ...      96 

William  Burnet  Governor 100 

Bradford  prints  first  newspaper  in  city  ...  79 
John  Montgomery  Governor  .  .  .  .  •  103 
First  Jewish  cemetery  established  .  .  .  .104 
First  Fire  Department  organized        .        .        .        .105 

Montgomery  dies 105 

William  Cosby  Governor 106 

James  De  Lancey  made  Chief-Justice  .        .        .108 

Peter  Zenger  tried  for  libel 1 09 

Governor  Cosby  dies 110 

Negro  Plot 1 1 1 

George  Clinton  Governor 116 

Louisburg  captured 117 

Walton  House  built 122 

Sir  Danvers  Osborne  Governor 118 

Sir  Charles  Hardy  Governor 121 

Corner-stone  of  King's  College  laid  .  .  .  .121 
Lord  Loudoun  appointed  Commander-in-Chief  of  the 

British  forces  in  America 123 

General  Jeffrey  Amherst  appointed   Commander-in- 
Chief  in  place  of  Lord  Loudoun      .        .        .        .123 

[239] 


Table  of  Events 


York 


Year 
1760.      Montreal  captured        .... 

Lieutenant-Governor  De  Lancey  dies 

George  IL  of  England  dies 

George  IIL  becomes  King  . 
I  76 1.      Robert   Monckton  Governor 
1763.      Monckton  resigns  as  Governor    . 
1765.      Stamp  Act  passed 

First  Colonial  Congress  held  in  New 

Sir  Henry  Moore  Governor 
I  766.      Stamp  Act  repealed 

Liberty  Pole  set  up  on  the  Common 
1770.      Statues  of  William  Pitt  and  George  IIL  erected 

Tax  removed  on  all  articles  except  tea 

Battle  of  Golden  Hill  .... 
I  77  I.      Sir  William  Tryon  Governor 

1773.  Tax  on  tea  reduced      .... 

1774.  Taxed  Tea  dumped  into  the  river 
First  Continental  Congress  held  . 

1775.  Lexington  massacre       .... 
Second  Continental  Congress 
Turtle  Bay  stores  seized 
Marinus     Willett     seizes     the     British     ammunition 

wagons 

Battle  of  Bunker  Hill    .... 
Governor  Tryon  returns  from  England 
General  Montgomery  killed  at  Quebec 

1776.  April. — General'Washington  comes  to  New  York  after 

the  success  of  the  Continental  army  at  Boston 
July. — Independence  declared     .         .         .      •  . 
August. — Battle  of  Long  Island  .        .        ,        , 
[240]  '^ 


151 
152 
154 


Table  of  Events 


Year 
[776. 


Ill- 


1780. 
I781. 
1783. 


788. 
789. 


1790. 
1798. 

1803. 
1804. 
1805. 
1807. 
181I. 
1812. 


September. — British  occupy  New  York 

Battle  of  Harlem  Heights      . 

A  Great  Fire 

Nathan  Hale  executed  . 

November. — Fort  Washington  captured     . 

George  Clinton,  Governor  of  New  York  State  . 

Burgoyne  surrenders  at  Saratoga  .        . 

Washington  at  Valley  Forge        .... 

Benedict  Arnold's  treason 

Surrender  of  Lord  Cornwallis      .... 

September. — Treaty  of  Peace,  between  Great  Britain 
and  the  United  States,  signed  .... 

November. — British  troops  depart  from  New  York 

December. — Washington  bids  farewell  to  his  officers 
at  Fraunces's  Tavern 

The  Doctors'  Mob 

New  York  the  seat  of  the  National  Government 

Washington  becomes   First   President  of  the  United 
States  and  comes  to  live  in  New  York. 

The  Government  House  built 

Tammany  Society  organized 

Trinity   Church  rebuilt 

Small-pox  epidemic 

Manhattan  Company  established  . 

New   City    Hall    begun 

Alexander  Hamilton   killed  by  Aaron 

Free  School  Society  organized 

The  Clermont  launched 

City  Plan  completed     . 

United  States  at  war  with  Great  Britain 

[241] 


Bi 


Page 
163 
164 
167 

168 
171 

172 
172 
177 
178 

178 
179 

180 
185 
189 

190 
196 

197 
198 
200 
203 
205 
207 
208 
21  I 
212 
213 


Table  of  Events 

Year  Page 

1 8  14.      Fort  Clinton  (afterward  called  Castle  Garden)  built   .  215 

War  with  Great  Britain  ended 215 

1823.  Yellow  fever  epidemic 216 

1824.  General  Lafayette  comes  again  to  America        .        .216 

1825.  Erie  Canal  celebration 221 

Gas  introduced  into  city 223 

1833.      First  penny  newspaper  started 223 

1835.      The  **  Great  Fire"  destroys  six  hundred  houses       .    224 
Work  commenced  on  the  Croton  Aqueduct       .        .227 
1842.      Water  admitted  through  the  Croton  Aqueduct  .        .228 
1845.      First  telegraph  recording  apparatus  publicly  tested  by 

Samuel  F.  B.  Morse 230 

1849.      Forrest- Macready  riots 231 

1853.      World's  Fair  in  the  Crystal  Palace     .        .        .        '233 
1856.      Ground  bought  by  the  city  for  the  Central  Park        .    233 

1863.      The  Draft  Riot 234 

1870.      Brooklyn  Bridge  started 235 

1878.      Elevated  roads  built 234 

1883.      Brooklyn    Bridge   completed 236 

1898.      The  island  of  Manhattan  becomes  the  Borough  of 

Manhattan  of  Greater  New  York  ....    236 


[242] 


Index 


Adventure  galley,  82,  83 
Amherst,  General  Jeffrey,  123 
Amsterdam,  2,  14 
Andre,  Major  John,  177,  178 
Andros,  Edmund,  61,  62,  64,  66,  68 
Anne,  Queen,  28,  91-93 
Annetje  Jans's  farm,  27,  28 
Anti-Federalists,  187 
Anti-Leislerian  Party,  68 
Apthorpe,  Charles  Ward,  156 
Apthorpe  mansion,  156 
Aqueduct,  Croton,  227-229 
Army,  Continental,  144,  148,  151, 

179 
Arnold,  Benedict,  177,  178 
Astor  Place  riot,  231,  232 
Astor  Place,  231 

Bank,  Manhattan,  203 
Banks,  201-203 
Battery,  10,  68,  176 
Battle  of  Bunker  Hill,  148 
Battle  of  Golden  Hill,  136-138 
Battle   of    Harlem    Heights,    164, 

165,  166 
Battle  of  Long  Island,  154,  155 
Bayard  Farm,  189 
Bayard.  Nicholas,  69,  72,  89 
Bellomont,  Lord,  82,  83,  86-88 
Block,  Adrian,  10-12 
Bogardus,  Everardus,  26,  37,  42 
Bolting  Act,  62,  63 
Boston,  66,  84,  140,  141,  143 
Boston  Port  closed,  141 


Bouweries  laid  out,  21 

Bouwerie  Lane,  21 

Bouwerie  Village,  54,  76,  231 

Bowery  Road,  179 

Bowery,  the,  21,  35 

Bowling  Green,   12,    35,  93,    105, 

131,  134,  152,  200 
Bradford,  William,  79,  108 
Bridge,  East  River,  236 
Bridge,  High,  227 
British  occupy  New  York  City,  163 
Broad  Street,  57,  148 
Broadway,  12,  58,  93,  162,  198,  204 
Bunker  Hill,  Battle  of,  148 
Burgomasters,  46 
Burgoyne,  General,  171,  172 
Burnet,  William,  101-103 
Burns's  Coffee-House,  129,  130 
Burr,  Aaron,  150,  201,  203-207 
Burton,  Mary,  112-114 
Buttermilk  Channel,  30 

Cabot,  John,  23,  50 
Cabot,  Sebastian,  23,  50 
Canal,  Erie,  220-222 
Canal  Street,  205 
Cape  of  Good  Hope,  3 
Castle  Garden,  215,  232 
Cemetery,  first  Jewish,  104 
Central  Park,  233 
Chambers,  Captain,  139,  140 
Charles  I.,  23 
Charles  IL,  62 
Church  in  the  Fort,  36,  37 


L243] 


Index 


Church,  St.  Mark's,  54 

Church,  St.  Paul's,   150,  167,  195, 

198 
Church,  Trinity,  28,  79,  129,  198 
City  Hall  (first),  36,  47,  75,  87,  122 
City  Hall  (in  Wall  Street),  87-89, 

94,  99,  128,  133,  152,  190 
City  Hall  (present),  152,  205 
City  Hall  Park,  50,  175,  176,  214 
City  Hospital,  184 
City  Plan,  212,  213 
City  Wall,  48,  87 
Clarke,  George,  iii,  115,  116 
Clermont,  the,  210,  211 
Clinton,  Admiral  George,  116-118 
Clinton,  De  Witt,  208,  220-222 
Clinton,  Governor  George,  171 
Clock,  first  public,  99 
Colden,    Cadwallader,     102,     131, 

133 
Collect  Pond,   50,    114,    189,    198, 

202,  204,  205,  209 
College,  Columbia,  184 
College,  King's,  121,  184 
Colonial  Congress,  the,  129 
Columbia  College,  184 
Columbia  Heights,  164 
Columbia  University,  121,  164 
Colve,  Captain  Anthony,  58,  59 
Committee  of  Safety,  68 
Common,   the,    50,  137,    152,   184, 

198,  205 
Congress,  Colonial,  129 
Congress,  First  Continental,   141- 

143 
Congress,      Second     Continental, 

144,  147 


Constitution  of  the  United  States, 

186-188 
Continental  Army,   148-149,   151, 

179 
Continental  Congress,  First,  141- 

143 
Continental  Congress,  Second,  144, 

147 
Cornbury,  Lord,  89-94 
Cornwallis.  Lord,  178 
Corporation  Library,  87 
Cosby,  William,   105-110 
Council  of  Twelve,  39 
Croton  Aqueduct,  223,  227-229 
Crystal  Palace,  233 
Cunningham,      Provost  -  Marshal, 

176 

Declaration  of  Independence, 

152 
De  Lancey,  James,  107-109,  117- 

121,  123-125 
De  Lancey,  Stephen,  99 
De  Lancey,  Susannah,  116 
Demont,  William,  168 
De  Vries,   Captain   David   Pieter- 

sen,  28,  39,  40 
District  of  Columbia,  199 
Doctors'  Mob,  185 
Dongan  Charter,  65 
Dongan,  Thomas,  64,  65 
Draft  Riot,  234 
Duel  between  Alexander  Hamilton 

and  Aaron  Burr,  206,  207 
Duke  of  York,  50-54,  55,  60,  61 

64,  65 
Dutch  Netherlands,  2 


[244] 


Index 


East  India  Company,  2-5,  13 

East  Indies,  2-5,  13 

East  River  Bridge,  236 

Elevated  railways,  234 

English    claim   New   Netherland, 

23,  53 
Erie  Canal,  220-222 
Exchange  Place,  57 

Fairs  on  Bowling  Green,  35,  36 

Federal  Hall,  190-194 

Federalists,  187,  188 

"  Federal  Ship  Hamilton,"  188 

Ferry-boats,  211 

Fire  Department,  first,  105 

Fire  of  1776,  167 

Fire,  "  the  Great,"  224 

First   City  Hall,  36,    47,   75,    87, 

122 
First  Continental  Congress,    141- 

143 
First  Fire  Department,  105 
First  houses  of  white  men,  12 
First  Jewish  cemetery,  104 
FiTSt  mail  route,  57 
First  minister,  26,  36,  42,  43 
First  newspaper,  79 
First  night-watch,  87 
First  pavements,  93 
First  printing  press,  79 
First  public  clock,  99 
First  roads,  35 
First  schoolmaster,  26 
First  sidewalks,  198 
First  soldiers  in  New  Netherland, 

26 
First  steamboat,  208-211 


First  street  lamps,  87 

First  street  numbers,  198 

First  telegraph,  230,  231 

First  vessel  built,  12 

Fitch,  John,  209 

Fitzroy,  Lord  Augustus,  109,  no 

Fletcher,  Benjamin,  77-81 

Forrest,  Edwin,  231 

Fort  Amsterdam,  19,  27,  53 

Fort  Clinton,  215,  232 

Fort  James,  54 

Fort  Manhattan,  13 

Fort  Washington,  168 

"  Fourteen  Miles  'round,"  195 

Franklin  House,   193 

Franklin  Square,  193 

Franklin,  Walter,  193 

Fraunces's  Tavern,  99,  100,  180 

Frederick,  Kryn,  19 

Free  School  Society,  208 

French  Revolution,  199 

"  Fulton's  Folly,"  211 

Fulton,  Robert,  210,  211 

Gage,  Ci?:NERAL  Thomas,  141 
Gardiner's  Island,  84 
Gates,  General,  172 
Gazette,  N'e7U   York,  108 
George  II.,  104,  116,  125 
George  III.,  125,  134,  136,  142, 152 
Golden  Hill,  Battle  of,  136,  137, 138 
Golden  Hill  Inn,  137 
Government  House,  196 
Governor's  Island,  30 
Grant's  Tomb    164 
"  Great  Fire,"  the,  224 
Greenwich  Village,  216,  231 


[245] 


Index 


Hale,  Nathan,  157,  158 
Half  Moon,  2,  3,  4 
Hall  of  Records,  176 
Hamilton,    Alexander,    187,    188, 

201-203,  206,  207 
Hamilton,  Andrew,  109 
Hardy,  Sir  Charles,  121 
Harlem  Heights,  161 
Harlem   Heights,   Battle  of,   164- 

166 
Harlem  River,  229 
Heights,  Columbia,  164 
Heights,  Harlem,  161 
Heights,  Vandewater,  164 
Pligh  Bridge,  227 
Holland,  2 
Holland,    States-General  'of,    15, 

16 
Houses,  first,  of  white  men,  12 
Howe,  Admiral,  153 
Howe,  General  William,  153,  155, 

158,  168;  171 
Hudson's  Bay,  7 
Hudson,  Henry,  3-8,  10 
Hudson's  River,  8 
Hunter,  Robert,  96,  97,  99,  100 
Hyde,    Edward   (Lord  Cornbury), 

91. 

India,  4 

Indians,    I,  4,  8,  9,  ID,  16,  33,  34, 

37-41 
Indian  War,  38-43,  49 
Ingoldsby,  Richard,  71 
Island,  (jardiner's,  84 
Island,  Governor's,  30 
Island,  Long,  30,  31,  84 


Island  of  Manhattan  bought  from 

Indians,  18 
Island,  Nut,  30 
Island,  Randall's,  31 
Island,  Staten,  10,  28,  39 
Island,  Ward's,  31 

Jail,  New,  175,  176 
Jamaica,  Long  Island,  92 
James,  Duke  of  York,  50-54,  60, 

61,  64,  65 
James  11, ,  64,  66,  67 
Jans,  Annetje,  28,  42 
Jans's  farm,  27,  28 
Jersey,  the,  176,  177 
Jewish  cemetery,  the  first,  104 
John  Street  Theatre,  195 
Journal,  New  York  Weekly,  108 

KiDD,  Captain  William,  S3-85 
Kieft,  William,  33-43 
King's  College,  121,  184 
Kip's  Bay,  158,  161,  162 
Koopman,  the,  19,  34 

Lafayette,    Marquis    de,    171, 

217-219 
Leisler,  Jacob,  67-76,  86,  89 
Leislerian  Party,  68,  89 
Lexington  massacre,  143 
Liberty  Pole,  134,  136 
Lind,  Jenny,  232 
Lispenard's  Meadow,  204 
Livingston,  Robert,  209,  210 
•Lockyer,  Captain,  138,  139 
Long  Island,  30,  31,  84 
Long  Island,  Battle  of,  154-155 


[246] 


New  Amsi 


New    Torky 


\ 


Side,  1746 


Index 


Lords  of  the  Manors,  21,  22 
Loudoun,  Lord,  123 
Louisburg,  117 
Lovelace,  Francis,  55-58 
Lovelace,  Lord  John,  95,  96 

Macready,   William    Charles, 

231,  232 
Mail  route,  the  first,  57 
Manhattan  Bank,  203 
Manhattan  Company,  203 
Manhattan  Island,  8,  10 
Manhattans,  8 
Manning,    Captain   John,    58,   59, 

61,  62 
Manors,  21,  22 
May,  Cornelius  Jacobsen,  16 
Milborne,  Jacob,  68,  69,  72-74 
Minister,  first,  26,  36,  42,  43 
Minuit,  Peter,  17-24 
Mohawks,  40 

Monckton,  Robert,  125,  126 
Money  used  by  Indians,  37 
Montgomery,     General     Richard, 

150 
Montgomery,  John,  103-105 
Montreal,  capture  of,  123 
Moore,  Sir  Henry,  133 
Morris,  Lewis,  96,  loi,  107 
Morris  Mansion,  164 
Morris,  Richard,  96 
Morris,  Roger,  164 
Morrisania,  96 

Morse,  Samuel  F.  B.,  230,  231 
Murray  Family,  1 58-161 
Murray  Hill,  158 
Mutiny  Bill,  134,  135 


Nanfan,  John,  89 

National  Academy  of  Design,  230 

Negro  Plot,  111-115 

Negro  slaves,  27,  98,  99,  111-115 

Netherlands,  2 

Netherlands,  Dutch,  2 

New  England,  48,  64-67 

New  Jail,  175,  176 

New  Jersey,  40 

New  Netherland,  12-14,  16-18,  24, 

50,  60 
New  Orange,  59 
Newspaper,  first,  79 
Newspapers,  223,  224 
N'eiu   York  Gazette,  108 
N'ew  York  Weekly  Journal,  108 
Nicholson,  Francis,  66,  68-70 
Nicolls,  Colonel  Richard,  55 
Night  watch,  first,  87 
Non-Importation  Agreement,  130, 

136 
Non-Importation  Association,   130 
North  Pole,  7 
Northwest  Passage,  7 
Nut  Island,  30 

Orange,  Prince  of,  60 
Osborne,  Sir  Danvers,  1 16-120 

Park,  City  Hall,  50,  175,  176, 

214 
Patriots,  143 
Patroons,  21,  22,  34 
Pavements,  first,  93 
Pearl  Street,  16,  36,  193 
Permanent  revenue,  the,  95,  97.  119 
Pirates,  80-84 


[247] 


Index 


Pitt,  William,  134 

Plot,  Negro,  111-115 

Prince  of  Orange,  60 

Printing  press,  the  first,  79 

Prisons,  173-177 

Prison  ships,  176,  177 

Prison,  Tombs,  205 

Privateers,  80,  83 

Provisional   Assembly,    the,     144, 

147,  149 
Provost,  the,  176 
Putnam,  General,  157,  161 

Quebec,  149,  150 
Queen  Street,  122 

Railroad,  elevated,  234 
Randall's  Island,  31 
Rebels,  143 
Restless,  the,  12 
Revolution,  French,  199 
Revolutionary  War,  143,  144,  146, 

152,  177,  178 
Riot,  Astor  Place,  231,  232 
Riot,  Doctors',  185 
Riot,  Draft,  234 
River  of  the  Mountains,  4,  8 
Roads,  the  first,  35 
Rolandsen,  Adam,  26 
Royalists,  143 


St.  Mark's  Church,  54 
St.  Paul's  Chapel,    150,    167, 

198 
Schepens,  the,  46 
Schoolmaster,  the  first,  26 
Schools,  208 
School  Society,  Free,  208 


[95, 


Schout,  the,  46 

Schout-fiscal,  the,  19 

Schuyler,  General  Philip,  172 

Schuyler,  Peter,  99 

Seal  of  New  York,  63 

Second  Continental  Congress,  14:; 

147 
Ship  Adventure  Galley,  82,  83 
Ship  Clermont,  210,  211 
Ship,  the  first  built,  12 
Ship  Half  Moon,  2-4 
Ship  Restless.  12 
Ship  Tiger,  10,  12 
Ships,  prison,  176,  177 
Ships,  tea,  138,  139,  140 
Sidewalks,  the  first,  198 
Slave  Market,  98 
Slaves,  26.  27,  98,  99,  111-115 
Sloughter,  Henry,  70-73,  75,  76 
Small-pox,  200 
Smugglers,  34,  39 
Soldiers,  first,  25,  26 
Sons   of    Liberty,    128,    136,    137, 

145-147 

Spain,  13 

Stadt  Huys,  36,  47,  75,  87,  122 
Stamp  Act,  127-136 
Staten  Island,  10,  28,  39 
States-General  of  Holland,  15,  iC 
Steamboat,  first,  208-211 
Steam  ferry-boats,  211 
Street  lamps,  first,  87 
Street  numbers,  first,   198 
Street  railways,  elevated,  234 
Streets,  how  laid  out,  212 
Stuyvesant,  Peter,  44-49,  53,  54,  76 
Sugar-house,  174,  175 


[248] 


Index 


Tammany  Hall,  197 

Tammany  Society,  197 

Taxed  tea,  135,  139-141 

Tea  ships,  138,  139,  140 

Tea  taxed,  135,  139-141 

Telegraph,  first,  230,  231 

Theatre,  John  Street,  195 

Third  City  Hall,  152,  205 

Tiger,  10,  12 

Tombs  Prison,  152,  205 

Tories,  143 

Trading  Stations,  103 

Trinity  Church,  28,  79,  129,  198 

Trinity  Churchyard,  207 

Tryon's  Gate,  198 

Tryon's  Row,  198 

Tryon,  William,  149,  158 

Turtle  Bay,  145,  146 

*'  Tyrant  of  New  England,"  64 

United  New  Netherland  Com- 
pany, 12 

University  of  the  City  of  New 
York,  230 

Valley  Forge,  172 

Van  Arsdale,  John,  180 

Van  Dam,  Rip,    105-108,  no,  in 

Vindewater  Heights,  164 

Van  Dincklagen,  the  schout-fiscal, 

31 

Van  Rensselaer,  Kiliaen,  25 

Van  Twiller  buys  Governor's  Is- 
land, 30 

Van  Twiller's  tobacco  plantation, 
27 

Van  Twiller,  Walter,  25-32 


Vauxhall,  132 
Verhulst,  William,  17 

Wall  Street,  41,  87,  190 

Wall  Street,  City  Hall  in,  87-89, 

94,  99,  128,  133,  152,  190 
Wall,  the  city's,  48,  87 
Walton  House,  122 
Walton,  William,  122 
Ward's  Island,  31 
W^ar,  Indian,  38-43,  49 
War  of  the   Revolution,    143,  144, 

146,  152,  177,  178 
War  of  1812,  213-215 
Warren,  Admiral  Peter,  116,  117 
Washington,  City  of,  199 
Washington,     George,     123,     145, 

148,  149,  151-158,  162,  164,  168, 

170,  172,  173,  178-183, 186,  189, 

190,  193-195,  199,  200 
Weehawken,  207 
Westchester,  168 
West   India  Company,  13-16,    18, 

21-23,  25,  32,  42,  46,  53,  67 
West  Indies,  14 
West  Point,  177 
W^higs,  143 

Willett,  Marinus,  147,  148 
Willett,  Thomas,  55 
William  III.,  60,  67,  68,  70,  82 
"  William  the  Testy,"  33 
Windmills,  27,  34 
World's  Fair,  233 

Yellow  fkvf.r,  216 
York,  James,   Duke  of,  50-54,  55 
60,  61,  64,  65 

Zenger,  Peter,  108-110 


[249] 


Date  Due 

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